Transformar el airePoéticas de sostenibilidad en la intersección Arte-Ciencia

Abstract

Through the collaboration between José Carlos Espinel and Jennifer Parker during the period 2019–2024, the idea of transforming air as a conceptual framework is researched at the intersection of art, science, and sustainability. The proposal understands air not only as an indispensable physical resource, but also as a system constructed through interactions with invisible organisms, art practices and new technologies. In a first phase, the work focuses on the role of photosynthetic organisms in oxygen generation and atmospheric balance. From this perspective, art becomes a tool for visualization and awareness, enabling the recognition of invisible ecological dependencies while reconfiguring our perception of the more-than-human. In a second stage, air is explored as a problem of scale and mediation. The relationship between cosmos and microcosm, revealed by telescopes and microscopes, displaces human centrality and demonstrates how breathable air depends on dynamics that surpass our perceptual capacities. Art, in this sense, not only translates the invisible but also creates sensitive experiences that allow us to reflect on the connections between the microscopic and the planetary. Finally, air is addressed as transformative matter and as an ethical frontier. The metaphor of the breath shaping glass serves to reflect on the role of air in creation, but also on the tensions between artistic production, technology, and ecological impact. Transforming air is configured as a poetics of sustainability that weaves together ecological awareness, critical imagination, and social responsibility.