{"id":2460,"date":"2025-07-16T16:29:32","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T16:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/?p=2460"},"modified":"2025-07-18T17:33:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T17:33:36","slug":"thijs-bierstekers-digital-sculptures-translate-climate-data-into-urgent-calls-to-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/16\/thijs-bierstekers-digital-sculptures-translate-climate-data-into-urgent-calls-to-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Thijs Biersteker\u2019s Digital Sculptures Translate Climate Data into Urgent Calls to Action"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Thijs Biersteker&#8217;s Digital Sculptures Translate Climate Data into Urgent Calls to Action\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/biersteker-12.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>An unassuming cacao tree in Indonesia has made a unique connection to a high-tech artwork in China. Thanks to ecological data artist <a href=\"https:\/\/thijsbiersteker.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thijs Biersteker<\/a>, &#8220;ORIGIN&#8221; is a sculpture \u2014 a &#8220;digital twin&#8221; \u2014 that reflects the sensors monitoring the growth and elemental experiences of the tropical tree through pulses of light.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When it&nbsp;rains in Indonesia, you see the&nbsp;sap flow through the sculpture&nbsp;in real time,&#8221; the artist says. &#8220;When the&nbsp;air quality&nbsp;shifts, the flows respond. During a heatwave, the tree visibly struggles. This real-time installation reveals just how fragile the cacao supply chain has become.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Orgin : The Art Installation That Makes You Rethink Chocolate Forever\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/So_Ad7JrBWY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>A majority of cacao, the primary ingredient in chocolate, is cultivated in places that are also the most vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis. Extreme weather, habitat destruction, and other issues also mean that global <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2025\/may\/21\/eu-chocolate-climate-breakdown-crisis-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">food resiliency<\/a> is increasingly threatened.<\/p>\n<p>For Biersteker, data provides unique insights into changes on the ground, and through a recent collaboration with the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute (ICCRI), he devised a way to literally illuminate environmental impacts.<\/p>\n<p>The artist collaborates with environmental scientists to explore the relationship between data and nature, harnessing science for communication and to show how every change affects biodiversity, food, and habitats. Hooking up sensors to a specimen at ICCRI&#8217;s research site in Java, Bierksteker created a translucent, sculptural mirror of the tree, which is currently installed at Zaishui Art Museum in the city of Rizhao, Shandong Province.<\/p>\n<p>Another work, &#8220;WITHER,&#8221; in collaboration with UNICEF, comprises a tropical installation with flickering leaves representing rainforest loss. Each disappearing leaf symbolizes 128 square meters of deforestation, based on data from Amazon rainforest watch groups. And &#8220;ECONTINUUM,&#8221; a collaboration with Stefano Mancuso, invites us into a kind of &#8220;conversation&#8221; occurring between tree roots in a twinkling digital composition. The work nods to recent scientific discoveries that show how <a href=\"https:\/\/naturecollectivesl.com\/2025\/05\/07\/whispering-roots-how-trees-talk-to-each-other\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">trees communicate<\/a> with one another via their intricate subterranean systems to provide or request nutrients or warn others of dangers like disease or infestations.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1107\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"an installation view of sculptural, white tropical leaves in a historic gallery space\" class=\"wp-image-458835 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/biersteker-1.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&#8220;WITHER&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For &#8220;ORIGIN,&#8221; the live cacao tree in Java transmits information, its digital copy animating with fluctuating light. &#8220;This mirrors the role of the institutions behind it: making the invisible visible and reconnecting people with the systems that feed them,&#8221; Biersteker says in a statement. &#8220;It is where data begins to speak to the imagination and where data-driven art becomes a new language for change.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Explore more on Bierksteker&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/thijsbiersteker.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thijs_biersteker\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram<\/a>. If you enjoy pieces that explore the intersection of data and nature, you&#8217;ll also like Marshmallow Laser Feast&#8217;s &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/2025\/05\/marshmallow-laser-feast-of-the-oak\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Of the Oak<\/a>&#8221; installation at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Voice of Nature - Thijs Biersteker\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DnSy1SCg55Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1272\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"a dual image of a cacao tree and a sculptural copy with illuminated elements\" class=\"wp-image-458847 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/biersteker-9.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Details of cacao tree in Java and &#8220;ORIGIN&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1127\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"a detail of a sculpture of a clear, illuminated cacao tree\" class=\"wp-image-458843 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/biersteker-5.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Detail of &#8220;ORIGIN&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Econtinuum - By Thijs Biersteker and Stefano Mancuso\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wur0jGVii_Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"564\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"a detail of a sculpture of tree roots that illuminate with data\" class=\"wp-image-458848 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/biersteker-14.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Detail of &#8220;ECONTINUUM&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1127\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"a detail of a sculpture of a clear, illuminated cacao tree\" class=\"wp-image-458840 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/biersteker-11.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Detail of &#8220;ORIGIN&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1335\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"a detail of a sculpture of a clear, illuminated cacao tree\" class=\"wp-image-458846 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/biersteker-8.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Detail of &#8220;ORIGIN&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1088\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"an installation view of sculptural, white tropical leaves \" class=\"wp-image-458836 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/biersteker-2.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&#8220;WITHER&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/members\">Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/2025\/07\/thijs-bierstekers-data-sculptures\/\">Thijs Biersteker&#8217;s Digital Sculptures Translate Climate Data into Urgent Calls to Action<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\">Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An unassuming cacao tree in Indonesia has made a unique connection to a high-tech artwork in China. Thanks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2460"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2471,"href":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460\/revisions\/2471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/deaoli.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}