The Carbon Chronicles (2021).
Art has long found ways to make tangible the planet’s atmosphere, and its changing chemistry. Manifest Data Lab seeks to contribute to this tradition through looking at atmospheric and fossil fuel data in order to make clear the hidden forces underlying the climate crisis. Carbon Chronicles visualises the build-up of CO2 from the industrial revolution to the present. Beginning with the UK in the 1750s, emissions from coal start enveloping the planet. By the late 1800s industrial activity in the Global North is responsible for 92% of CO2. The animation informs the need for equitable solutions to the climate crisis, and, ultimately, asks: who owns the air?
