On the 19th of May inaugurated in the Biodiversity Gallery – Living Science Centre, the sound installation Forest Waves, by the student of the Master in Multimedia, *Luís Luzia.
Forest Waves’ is a sound installation that aims to communicate the history of the degradation of the Portuguese forest throughout the last decades. This unique ecosystem is in a state of decline and degradation due to the human impact, namely in what concerns the favouring of introduced species like the eucalyptus.
The installation takes advantage of two techniques to transmit information: soundscapes and data sonification. The soundscapes were captured in two different areas of the Peneda-Gerês National Park: Mata da Albergaria (a native forest) and a eucalyptus plantation. The data sonification corresponds to a musical composition created from data on the areas occupied by certain species in the national territory, translating their evolution over time. The eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) and different species of oak (Quercus genus) were selected due to their abundance and/or importance in the indigenous ecosystems of mainland Portugal.
Forest Waves’ thus seeks to explore new ways of communicating science, taking advantage of the great potential of the artistic medium as a way to confer qualitative information appealing to sensitivity and emotion.
+ info at: https://mhnc.up.pt/instalacao-forest-waves/
19 to 29 May; Tuesday to Sunday; 10 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 6 pm (last access: 5.30 pm)
Free admission
*Luís Luzia is a twenty-three-year-old multidisciplinary artist from Vila Nova de Gaia. In 2019 he completed a degree in Biology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, where he developed a strong interest in the dissemination and preservation of the beauty and diversity of the Portuguese natural heritage. However, a desire to seek new ways of communicating science outside traditional media led him to the Master in Multimedia at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, where he focused on interactive music and sound design. Besides developing installations, Luís is also a musician, illustrator and visual artist.