Material Engagement for Just Atmospheres

Material Engagement for Just Atmospheres Material engagement on Earth's surface has altered the atmosphere. The air we breathe is increasingly affected by pollution: rising levels of carbon dioxide emissions drive global warming, nitrogen oxides from industrial and agriculture activities reduce biodiversity, and fine dust from factory emissions harms human health. According to the WHO, approximately 7 million people die annually worldwide from air pollution, and over 90% of the global population breathes air exceeding the organization's safety guidelines. Though air pollution affects everyone, it disproportionately impacts people in the Global South and poor communities in the Global North. Curaçao, for example, experiences some of the highest pollution levels worldwide due to oil refinery operations. Beyond health impacts, polluted air disrupts the growth of crops and other materials by creating unstable weather conditions linked to global warming. The Dutch Nitrogen Crisis exemplifies the local effects of such pollution. However, since air pollution—consisting of gasses and particulate matter—is mostly invisible, it becomes challenging for people to grasp its full impact. Air seems to be the same everywhere, but SME can help understand air as a situated phenomenon (e.g., participatory measuring of air pollution in distinct places (Gabrys 2022), and filtering, transforming these data into tangible material form. In collaboration with artists from Lab Air and through an artistic residency at Instituto Buena Bista, Curaçao (exploring emissions caused by farming in the Southern Netherlands, and air pollution in Curaçao), Sub-Project 3 will take a situated approach to explore how air can be materialized and how materialized air may engage various stakeholders on issues of atmospheres in a global context. Connects with WP 5 Just Futures.