Up-Dates on Weather explores the interplay between atmospheric phenomena, data, and human perception. This research project, developed by metaLAB (at) Berlin in collaboration withZK/U Berlin – Center for Art and Urbanistics, engages visitors through interactive data-driven experiences that reimagine our sensory and conceptual connections to weather.
Up-Dates on Weather transforms real-time data from local environmental sensors into immersive sensory and visual experiences through personalized weather data tattoos. By inviting visitors to compare their own perceptions of weather with live sensor readings, the installation probes the tension between human and machine sensing.
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Through data visualizations, 3D scans, and heat maps, Up-Dates on Weather blurs the boundaries between past and future atmospheric states. The temporary tattoo—a tangible mark—reveals the nuanced divergence between subjective impressions and objective measurements, reflecting the collective yet deeply personal nature of weather. This transdisciplinary project invites reflection on the complexities of interpreting the seemingly simple.
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At the heart of Up-Dates on Weather is a dental chair, transforming the act of data interpretation into a performative and intimate experience. The installation comprises a series of interconnected interfaces: a weather antenna, a questionnaire, a waiting screen, and a tattoo operator’s dashboard.
The weather antenna continuously records over 50 local weather parameters, including temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation. This provides an objective dataset that serves as the foundation for the experience.
Participants are invited to share their subjective perception of the weather through a brief questionnaire. This process highlights the contrast between personal sensations and the precise measurements of the antenna.
Once the questionnaire is submitted, a personalized, tribal-inspired visualization—based on both the sensor data and the participant’s input—appears on the waiting screen. This visualization symbolizes the queue for tattooing and reflects the interplay of human and machine perceptions.
The tattoo operator accesses both the weather data and the participant’s responses to finalize a design that harmonizes with the collected information. Participants then take a seat in the dental chair to receive a temporary tattoo, transforming weather data and personal impressions into a tangible, wearable form.
Up-Dates on Weather aims to create an intimate space to both, make environmental data tangible and revisit its own impressions. During the tattooing process visitors and artists meet for an everyday conversation about the weather that with ease moves into a joint reflection on the installation.
Being tattooed then not only affords them to share a unique moment, but also comes with the notion of memory and an emotional connection to the location and the local weather which is recognized with – among others – the skin.
By emphasizing the myriad variations of tattoo visualizations, the project opens up for an unbiased interrogation of erroneous or ambivalent, yet naturally human input juxtaposed to the supposed accuracy of ubiquitous processing devices.
The installation was on display during the Berlin Art Week 2024 as part of “Commons Cosmodrome – Re-Entering the Spaces of ZK/U”.
Over a period of 4 days around 220 visitors shared their impressions of the local weather data and received a personalized tattoo.
metaLAB:
Annette Jael Lehmann
ZK/U:
Clemens Gruber
Matthias Einhoff
Stefan Koderisch