River Change, Glasgow

A collaboration between art and science, 2018

Project Summary:

Strategy

Interior Design

Pattern Design

Project management

Installation

“River Change” is a fabric sculpture that aims to raise awareness on the impacts of Climate Change on the water cycle by taking the audience into a river before and during Climate Change, without and with adaptation solutions. For society to become more resilient to climate change, we believe it is crucial we communicate our research outputs to wide and diverse audiences across society.

The sculpture is made of a light bamboo structure and locally woven fabric from the isle of Bute. The textile panels were screen printed in our studio with patterns inspired by the scientific results from Heriot-Watt.

When members of the public walk in the structure they are surrounded by fabric hand printed with bold graphic patterns. These show the water levels of a river before climate change. By experiencing the different state of a river, the audience will be able to share their experience and find out more on climate change on how they can implement simple solutions in their daily lives. Over their heads, the rainfall is symbolised by strips of fabric which intensify due to climate change. On the floor, the soil and river state evolve according to the rain pattern. The final area of the artwork show these patterns changing thanks to adaptation solutions.