Aerocene Arcosanti with Joseph Becker and TSOA

On March 4th, 5th, and 6th, 2022, a group of students from The School of Architecture at Arcosanti flew an Aerocene Sculpture, as part of Professor Joseph Becker’s workshop “RAD/PED,” a three-day exploration of radical pedagogies.

Following the guides included in the Aerocene Backpack atmospheric exploration kit, the team launched an Aerocene sculpture from the spectacular roof of Arcosanti in Arizona, which was able to get aerosolar lift in very cold air. Embracing the do-it-together ethos of the Aerocene, the students also built and launched their own Museo Aero Solar Tetro sculpture out of a thin recycled-plastic drop cloth and plastic bags.

Arcosanti is an experimental town in the high desert of Arizona founded by Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri. Envisioned as an experiment in living frugally and with a limited environmental footprint, Arcosanti is an attempt at a prototype arcology, integrating the design of architecture with respect to ecology.

In dialog with the Aerocene Community, Professor Joseph Becker, who is the Associate Curator of Architecture and Design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, expressed: “Cultural revolutions and moments of societal upheaval have contributed to ways of looking beyond the traditional and hierarchical formats of teaching, learning, and making. This workshop examined the circumstances and explores the techniques of a history of radical pedagogy in art and architecture.”

FLIGHTS

Aerocene at OpenCOP – COP26, Glasgow, Scotland

In late 2021, the Aerocene community was invited to take part of OpenCOP, a unique co-created virtual conference that facilitated exploration, broader ecological awareness, and collective solidarities. Initiated by Forum for Earth, OpenCOP was carried out in parallel to COP26 UN Climate Change Conference that took place in Glasgow, Scotland, from November 10th to 12th, 2021.

Over a 50-hour period, discussions and performances were live-streamed, alongside videos, digital art, and projects, accessible through the state of the art Sparkle online platform, bridging projects and voices beyond those present in Glasgow to the adjacent potential of decentralized and inclusive futures

The Aerocene community set up a virtual space within the OpenCOP Imaginarium Space. The Aerocene online space at OpenCOP allowed visitors to participate on an online screening room broadcasting the Aerocene Pacha Flights live transmission, interact with the online Aerocene App and Float Predictor, and chat through video-link with other participants.

OpenCOP brought together an emerging intergenerational solidarity of earth stewards from every discipline and bio-region around the world who poured their skills, knowledge, and passions into weaving healthier, more inclusive futures, bridging their work around local and global sustainability and regeneration projects.

Activists, system hackers, thought-leaders and organizations came together to co-create this online collective envisioning and sensemaking space. You can re-live all the conversations held at OpenCOP via Forum for Earth website.

FLIGHTS

Museo Aerosolar Reconquista

Story and impressions of the work process

By Carlos Almeida

At a time when our society is hurt and divided, the mottos: Work free from social and human borders and take advantage of the energy generated by community work, were good guides for the incubation of Museo Aero Solar “Reconquista”.

With these objectives in mind, a group of puppeteers and visual artists gathered in the academic space “Inflatable Laboratory”, decided to invite social groups that for some reason were exposed to different situations of social vulnerability to join the project.

We chose to express ourselves from what is usually considered as waste, from what is despised, from what does not manifest at first sight the possibility of becoming an artistic object.

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Perhaps those who contributed most to making the construction of this great sculpture possible were precisely the people and groups in the most vulnerable situations.

Most of the bags that make up the Museo were rescued from the waste that arrives from Buenos Aires to the Bella Flor urban recycling cooperative, which is located in the town of José León Suárez, Buenos Aires. This highly contaminated and vulnerable region is called “Reconquista River Zone”, hence the name of our Museo.

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In the same area of Reconquista River, very close to the facilities of Bella Flor Cooperative, is the North Penitentiary Complex, where the San Martín University Centre (CUSAM) is located. The CUSAM is a university centre dependent on UNSAM, where prisoners and prison guards can study together in an unprecedented experience. Women and men.

These two spaces, where daily life is very difficult to face, were the epicentres of the construction of the “Reconquista”. Approximately two hundred people have worked on the construction of the Museo:

Workers from the Bella Flor Urban Recycling Cooperative
Students deprived of their ambulatory freedom who are part of the CUSAM community
Teachers, students, graduates and management staff of the UNSAM Institute of Arts
Professors and students of the Institute of Architecture and Urbanism UNSAM
Teachers and young students from secondary schools in the area
People who independently joined the initiative by contributing bags
Recyclers, puppeteers, sociologists, anthropologists, circus artists, dancers, documentary makers, technicians, visual artists, philosophers, architects and enthusiastic people who joined.

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We set out to build an Aero Solar Museo from the slogans generously shared by Tomás Saraceno and his team on Aerocene’s website. We set the objective of making the big sculpture by previously building a 300 square meter sheet, equivalent to a 10 x 30 meter rectangle, with bags or material that had already had some kind of previous use.

More than half of the material that makes up the Museo Reconquista was rescued from the mountains of rubbish that circulates daily in the facilities of the Bella Flor urban recycling cooperative. We also appealed to friends and family who would like to donate bags. We detected in our community that in general young people and teenagers do not usually keep plastic bags in their homes, it was easier to receive them thanks to the contribution of older people.

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It is important to highlight that the workers of the Bella Flor Cooperative dedicated a lot of time, effort and joy in the recovery of bags for this purpose and they selected them thinking about the colours and formats that were most attractive to them for the construction of the Museo. After that enormous work they also spent several days cleaning and gluing bags.

Two special mentions are due to the plant coordinator Nora Rodríguez, who proposed the name “Reconquista” and considered that one of the activities to be carried out by the work cooperative was artistic production, because both she and her team had a lot to express from that place. The other special mention goes to Ernesto “Lalo” Paret, a great territorial articulator who understands and promotes expression through art in the processes of social reconstruction.

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At this point it is important to mention the other driving idea of the project: The small, the oppressed, the individually and socially depressed can be transformed and generate a sense of expansion when they manage to take AIR in a communitarian way. We like the metaphor of the flattened Museo when it is placed on the floor before being set up, in relation to the air-filled, expanded, vital and moving Museo.

In order to make the 300 square metre sheet more concrete, we proposed to build, with each group that participated, sheets of approximately 50 square metres. Each day of work lasted approximately three hours and ended with a game of raising the newly constructed sheet of paper between all of us, bagging air and, when we came down, building a “bubble” where we all stayed inside and there… we sang, said poetry to each other, laughed and played freely.

Both the finished Museo and these previous instances of play are spaces of ephemeral habitability, meeting atmospheres, spheres of air.

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Another slogan that crossed the construction process was that the participants had the possibility of writing, drawing and intervening in the sheets as they wished, expressing what they wanted, in absolute freedom, without any slogans and without any limits. This experience had its most impressive point in the CUSAM where the students deprived of their ambulatory freedom used the possibility of expressing themselves by writing on the plastic with extreme dedication, care and depth.

As the sheets were being built and reached our work base on the UNSAM Campus, the team of puppeteers and visual artists from the Inflatable Laboratory chair brought them together, trying to build a logic in the combination of colours, textures and written interventions.

The whole assembly process was guided by two models, one folded with the final shape of the tetrahedron and the other with the open rectangle and the possibility of observing it from both sides, which guided us to the position where each sheet could be placed.

These objects were very useful to explain to the people who joined the project what the final shape of the object we were building was going to be and it was also useful for the folding and final assembly stage.

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The first assembly of the Museo was carried out inside a large circus tent that the University has on its Campus. We enjoyed living in and observing this wonderful and enormous object. That day, a cultural anthropology class was held inside the Museo and then we made the object independent from the air entry point so that the puppeteers could manipulate it from inside by means of some threads tied to the internal vertices and generate movements through the space. The object took on a life of its own… It was an incredible experience. That moment was very well recorded by Joaquín from Aerocene Argentina.

The first public and open-air installation was carried out in an open space on the Campus as part of the First International Congress of Art and Science “The Skies” organised by UNSAM. The following stagings took place on a rugby field located inside the prison complex, in a shed where the Museo was converted into a classroom for a philosophy class, and in other sectors of the Campus where it was set up for repairs.

The Museo Aero Solar Reconquista is a collectively owned object that will continue to receive the written interventions that the people who observe it or live in it wish to make and will remain available to the whole community to be mounted wherever a team of people has the desire to do so.

We know that a moment will come when the fragile material that makes up the object and requires permanent repairs will have already completed its life cycle. At that moment we will make a final survey of everything written and drawn on it and surely in some singular ceremony it will be given back to the Bella Flor Cooperative to enter a recycling process. It sounds sad… but we know that this material, added to the work of so many people, has allowed us to recycle and expand our emotions and our minds.

We thank Tomás Saraceno, Joaquín Ezcurra, Maxi Laina, Dalia Maini, Sasha Engelmann and all the aeronauts who through this open source initiative have inspired us and allowed us to go through some moments of our lives with a little less “gravity”.

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Museo Aerosolar Reconquista Full Credits

Project General Coordination
Carlos Almeida

Aerocene Argentina Coordination
Joaquín Ezcurra

UNSAM Territorial Coordination
Ernesto “Lalo” Paret

Bella Flor Cooperative Coordinator
Nora Rodríguez

CUSAM Diploma in Art and Management Coordinator
Marcos Perearnau

Artistic and technical management advisors
Camila Almeida
Nehuen Serpa

Inflatable Laboratory 2019 of the IAMK: Team responsible for the assembly and mounting of the Museo Aero Solar “Reconquista/Arte”.
Manuel Gómez
Rocío García
Carla Guerra
Lorena Fiorence
Gabriela Longo
Fernando Orecchio
Maria Paula Company
Daniel Pagnota
Laura Gómez Pescuma
Walter Dantes

Bella Flor Cooperative Workers
Daiana Recalde
Griselda Taborda
Silvia Sánchez
Alcira Sánchez

Centro Universitario San Martín (CUSAM) Teachers and students
María Laura Compañía (Teacher)
Juan Perea Pons
Chaparro Acosta
Pablo Sánchez
Arce Rolón
Iván Coronel
Diego Armóa
Jonatan Martínez Gómez
Brian Matínez
Alejandro Vertoti
Gayoso Martínez
Leonel Malinovsky
Guillermo Martínez
Ángel Silva
Damián Vallejos
Luis Varas
Víctor Vivas Molina
Acevedo Gómez
Silvana Ortiz Casco
Macarena Sosa
Rodrigo Altamirano

IAMK Cultural Anthropology Department students
Paola Rojas
Tamara Prusak
Manuel Arias
Lucía Beatriz Chávez Mérida
María Paula Chalita
María Micaela Chirinos
Sariah Micaela Fernandes
Germán Alejo Haro
Victoria Marecos
Laura Medina
Monserrat Morlans
Jefferson Queipo

IAMK Teachers and management staff
Carolina Scaglione
Micaela Almeida
Florencia Petersen
Mercedes Lozano
Axel Lázari
Patricia Galletti

UNSAM Territorial Articulation Area Team
Nancy Salvatierra
Cecilia Lemandi
Gisela Bustos

Institute of Architecture and Urbanism of UNSAM professors and students
Sebastián Vela (Professor)
Matías Lien Benitez (Professor)
Juan Pablo Berbery (Professor)
Flavio Adrián Becerro (Professor)
Sebastian Alfieri
Geronimo Alvarez
Agustin Tomás Antolini
Daniela Aramayo
Maximiliano Armando
Jose Balbuena
Micaela Bazzano
Ignacio Begue
Gianluca Biaggetti
Keila Blackal
Carmen Elisa Bordon
Tamara Capornio
Yamila Carrazco
Lucas Castillo
Lautaro Celada
Elias Cena
Vanina Chaparro
Lautaro Ciongo Pasotti
Tobias Costa
Alejandra Cubides
Ignacio Evangelista
Morena Rene Federico
Diego Fernandez
Ivan Fernandez
Abril Gamarra
Federico Garcia Beres
Sol Giraudo
Mayra Romina Gomez
Juan Franco Gomez
Josefina Gonzalez
Juan Manuel Grasso
Magali Ariana Kalenok
Juan Ignacio Konradi Proto
Sebastian Konradi Proto
Juan Ignacio Konradi Proto
Daniela Kunschek
Santiago Lamela
Jimena Ledesma
Yair Leon
Gonzalo Luciani
Adriana Luy Martinez
Marina Mariscal
Agustina Martinez
Agustina Mitjans
Nicole Monpelat
Nazareno Monti
Natalia Morboso Pipparola
Micaela Morin
Nicole Moya
Maria Ojeda
Facundo Paniagua
Gonzalo Parada
Agustina Pastor
Martina Pavone
Sara Peña Monroy
Maria Belen Perez Gaitan
Gonzalo Pernicone
Tomas Piragine
Gonzalo Pombo
Nazarena Prada
Delfina Prebisch
Agustina Presas
Tomas Ramirez
Mario Jeronimo Rodriguez
Tomas Rodriguez Das Neves
Aylen Rubin
Eric Ruiz
Antonella Rocio Saccomanno
Camila Scaldafferro
Milagros Simon
Agostina Sisca
Matias Spitzer
Patricio Tamborenea
Ornella Tantino
John Tibaquira
Tamara Tjoruk
Tomas Turner
Cecilia Ureta
Silvia Vallejos
Nayla Villalba
Lautaro Villalba
Fernando Lautaro Villalba
Edgardo Villanueva
Liz Viveros
Nadia Von Schey
Mariano Willems
Matias Leonel Zotto

Philosophy, School of Humanities UNSAM Professor and students
Santiago González Cáseres (Professor)
Carlos Dario Romero
Damaris Vanag
Melanie Llarin
Ramon Mujica
Cristian Pampin

Rogelio Yrurtia School of Artistic Education Teachers and adolescent students
María Clara Gabor (Teacher)
Andrea Daleoso (Teacher)
Jimena Sánchez (Teacher)
Mónica Villaverde (Teacher)
Veruscka Chuan (Teacher)
Eva Giulia Ayala
Sofia Buldrini
Sofia Chiara Cammarano
Luciana Macchi Defeo
Violeta De la Fuente
Micaela Nicole Karo
José Maria Martinez Didolich
Martín Lisandro Moreno
Sophia Brigitte Quiroga Grosso
Maite Quiroga Tevez
Florencia Ricci
Vicente Gala Rodriguez
Luna Sandonato
Manuela Seoane García
Milena Maria Vivaldi
Aylin Amén
Laura Melanie Sabrina Bautista
Ariadna Calabró Villarreal
Carla Cámera
Agustina Carullo
Joaquin Casas
Lara Chacur
Haret Coronado
Ivon Condori
Ema Correa
Lauro Divito
Ema Falcón
Clara Fernandez
Rocío Gómez Fernández
Franco Guzmán Mamani
Barrios Agustín López
Lourdes López
Angely Mamani Sillero
Malena Ramos
Eneas Rodriguez
Ramiro Sarno
Lourdes Orkonina

Secondary School 31 of San Martín teacher and students
Analía Lozana (Teacher)
Nicolás Aquino
Benjamín Cabrera
Walter Mena
Tiziano Pereyra
Esquivel Milagros

Other anonymous people, friends and relatives of ours, who participated in the MAS by donating
plastic bags for its construction.

Teacher in charge of the Inflatable Laboratory
Carlos Almeida

Dean of IAMK
Laura Malosetti Costa
Rector of UNSAM
Carlos Greco

ARIA Days | Florence, Italy, 2020

On the occasion of the exhibition Tomás Saraceno. Aria

in Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, the collaboration between Aerocene Foundation, Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and Manifattura Tabacchi led to the take-off of ARIA Days.

Over three days, Friday 11 to Sunday 13 September 2020, Aerocene sculptures elevated in the air of Florence, imagining how to move and travel without the need for fossil fuels: a symbol of a new age for the planet, the era of the Air.

Becoming buoyant only with the heat of the sun, the aerosolar sculptures rose above Piazza dell’Orologio at Manifattura Tabacchi thanks to the collaboration of a volunteer group trained by Aerocene Foundation.

In the words of Martino Margheri, Aerocene Pilot, Education Coordinator at Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and organizer of Aerocene activities in Florence:

“We had such a great experience in Florence during ARIA Days at Manifattura Tabacchi.
Since the workshop with the representatives of Aerocene Foundation, Alice Lamperti, Lorenzo Malloni and Joaquin Ezcurra in July, we really enjoyed working altogether and delve ourselves into the community attitude of Aerocene endeavours and share with a broader public a new engagement with the air and the atmosphere.
During the Aerocene Pilot Course, we have been able to deliver a powerful message to the Florentine community, as many people participated and asked about organizing further Aerocene events in the upcoming months.
Around 200 people launched the aerosolar sculptures enclosed in the Aerocene Backpacks and more than 1000 people attended the events of ARIA Days, uplifted by the mesmerizing flying sculptures.”

A group of 12 volunteers, Aerosolar Pilots officially trained by Aerocene Foundation’s coordinators Alice Lamperti and Lorenzo Malloni, worked side by side with Palazzo Strozzi’s team to engage with the audience and show a different way for flying, sharing with enthusiasm the possible futures to come within the Aerocene era.

During the workshop open to the public, the on-site team had to deal with a sunny but windy weekend: in order to have full control of the sculpture and guarantee safe flights for the pilots and the number of visitors in the courtyard of Manifattura Tabacchi, they all flew, together, one sculpture at the time, following the rhythms of the winds and the will of the atmosphere.

The Pilot Course for the volunteers promoted by Aerocene Foundation in collaboration with Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi was set up as an interdisciplinary workshop, a laboratory to sense di air differently.

The first approach with an Aerosolar Sculpture can be extremely powerful both in terms of our physical engagement with it, both concerning its connection with the invisible natural forces we live among – such as the air, the winds and the energy of the sun. Elements that in our daily routine may end up unnoticed in the majority of cases, especially in a city like Florence, an environment with a solid history of human-centric vision as the cradle of Humanism and the Renaissance.

Aerocene wants to inspire a different perspective, where the environment abandons its role of sole scenography, but becomes the protagonist, with all its elemental energies: to foster a shift in consciousness, rethinking what the futures to come could inaugurate a new Renaissance – Aerocene, an era for the Air, towards the independence from fossil-fuels based mobility.

If we think about the aerial perspective, whose studies were initiated in the very city of Florence by Leonardo da Vinci, it is based on the discovery that air is not an entirely transparent medium. According to Leonardo’s optical studies, moreover, the air is denser («una aria grossa più che le altre» – one air thicker than the others) the closer it is to the ground, while it becomes more transparent with height.

With the Aerocene workshop in Florence during ARIA Days, the aim was to trigger the volunteers and the public’ sensitivity towards the atmosphere and the planet, detaching from the ground to have a tangible view of the ocean of air at the bottom of which we all live.

The Pilot Course is based on learning how to launch an aerosolar sculpture in the air and the safety procedures that come with this action. The Aerocene Pilot Course is an entrance into the praxis of becoming aerosolar; attuning to the weather, collaboratively energising and activating the lift and drift of aerosolar sculptures in alignment with the Sun and winds, and drawing aeroglyphs with the air. A thinking-through-making activity, the Pilot Courses seek to open up the thermodynamic imagination through the boundless potential of energies, both elemental and of collaboration.

Aerocene launches, 2020, Manifattura Tabacchi, Firenze, as part of exhibition Tomás Saraceno. Aria, Palazzo Strozzi, Firenze. Photo by Giancarlo Barzagli. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Every aerosolar sculpture, while on air, can be equipped with the SensAIR, the sensing kit enclosed in the Aerocene Backpack, a tool for perceiving and measuring atmospheric properties collaboratively developed by the Aerocene community.

Contained within a reused plastic bottle, a Raspberry Pi single-board computer connects to a Raspberry Pi camera, a BME280 pressure/humidity/temperature sensor, a solar battery back, an SD card, and a WLAN stick (USB 2.0). It can also include Motion Trackers and Particulate Matter Sensors.

Prior to list off, the device is attached to the sculpture and enables the gathering of aerial pictures and atmospheric data, such as temperature, humidity and pressure, along with air pollutant measurements.

Fully open-source via the GitHub repository, the SensAIR enables the low-cost, non-intrusive, emissions-free scientific study of airborne matter, and encourages citizen-science approaches to atmospheric investigation.

The motion tracker embedded in the SensAIR is able to record the movements of the floating sculptures, the invisible traces left by it – the Aeroglyphs.

Like handwriting or fingerprints, the swirling trace that follows any Aerocene flight is unique. While eagerly adapting to the ever-changing rivers of the wind, atmospherics laws and weather conditions, aerosolar spheres create signatures in and of the air. In contrast to fuel-powered flights that leave behind visible, straight lines in the sky, the trajectories of an Aerocene float are invisible to the eye.

With every launch, the participants have been able to record the flight trajectories and subsequently, thanks to Joaquin Ezcurra – Aerocene Foundation’s Aerial Data expert – visualize them in digital form. The objective was to understand the basics of the collected data: GPS coordinates, atmospheric pressure and its relation to altitude, and then process this information into an artistic visualization.

During the workshop, participants have been able to sort and analyze the information collected by the airborne sensing device from scratch, by compiling the source info on a CSV file, through an open-source spreadsheet application. Then, the GPS values have been pasted into a sample KML file through a text editor application, following examples downloaded from Aerocene’s Sky Hole Mark Up repository on GitHub. Later, each KML file has been uploaded into the Google Earth Pro (Free) application for visualization of each aerosolar sculpture’s Aeroglyph.

Aeroglyph AT 200727, Florence, 2020

Aerial Pictures, SensAIR, Florence, 2020

Aeroglyph AT 200726, AT 200727, AT 200728, G-Earth view, Florence, 2020

Aerocene Certified Pilots, Class of 2020, ARIA Days, Aerial Pictures, SensAIR, Florence, 2020

Congratulations to all new certified pilots and participants for the amazing collective achievements of ARIA DAYS.

Special thanks to Martino Margheri and Riccardo Lami for the invaluable support and energy invested in making the Aerocene landing in Florence a reality, together with Arturo Galansino Director General Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and the entire team of Manifattura Tabacchi.

Applause to all volunteers for the enthusiasm and care demonstrated during the workshop! In aerial order: Maria Camilla Palleschi, Sara Gavagni, Marta Lorenzi, Silvia Villafranca, Federica Pascarella, Giampaolo Irtinni, Marianna Di Rosa, Chiara Martini, Mariasole Monaci, Fiamma Batini, Federica Giglio.

Photo Credits: Aerocene launches, 2020, Manifattura Tabacchi, Firenze, as part of exhibition Tomás Saraceno. Aria, Palazzo Strozzi, Firenze. All photos by Giancarlo Barzagli. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Video Credits: Alex Torres and Ugo De Berti – UDB Studio Licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0

Aerocene Futuros Posibles Tigre

El 13 de noviembre, Aerocene participó del festejo de los 130 años de la Escuela N° 8, Manuel Belgrano de Islas, fundada en el año 1889. También se celebró el día de la tradición y del isleño.

A partir de las 10 de la mañana fueron arribando las lanchas colectivas cargadas de chicos y maestros provenientes de distintas partes de la isla y de continente. Varias familias también llegaron en sus propias embarcaciones.

Cuando comenzó a sonar el himno, el primer globo Aerocene se elevó en el cielo flameando una wiphala, bandera del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia como símbolo de hermandad con los pueblos andinos. Otro Aerocene voló con un gps para generar un aeroglifo, firma aérea en rechazo a los golpes de estado en América.

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Durante el transcurso de la mañana se realizaron varias actividades. Guadalupe Boado de La Residuoteca junto con Ismael Romero Vargas de Agua alta dieron una charla sobre residuos y un taller de experimentación con botellas de plástico.

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Mientras tanto, Amalia Boselli brindó un taller literario Futuro (s) posible (s) de “vuelo poético”, abierto a niñxs y adultos. A partir de cartas con palabras o imágenes alusivas al aire/cosmos/planeta/viento/sol/agua que se hacen volar en una alfombra mágica y cual cadáver exquisito se propuso un juego de crear una historia colectiva para hacer volar en el globo hacia otros mundos posibles. La actividad que propone Amalia se trata entonces de un taller de poesía en vuelo que invita, mientras los globos levantan vuelo, a levantar vuelo con nuestras imaginaciones.

La Comunidad del Sol

Fue un texto que salió de las cartas que le tocaron a Lucía, alumna de sexto grado de la Escuela N˚ 8.

Habitar dos mundos.

Autora: Nadia Bustos 10 años

Si te interesó el taller de Vuelo Poético, podés bajar la propuesta en PDF haciendo click aquí.

Alrededor del mediodía comenzamos a inflar el Museo Aero solar creado por los científicos de IBYME, lo que generó momentos de gran alboroto y algarabía principalmente entre los más pequeños.

Finalmente, todos fueron embarcando una vez más para luego despedirnos desde las lanchas hasta la próxima…

Participaron los siguientes miembros de la comunidad de Aerocene en Argentina:

Camille Valenzuela

Gabriela Sorbi

Amalia Boselli

Guadalupe Boado

Maxi Laina

Olivia Laina

Mirko Laina

Joaquín Ezcurra

Aerocene at Oslo Triennale, Norway

Sasha Engelmann

26 STEPS TO BE ON AIR

TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD with AEROCENE

WE INVITE YOU ON A JOURNEY THROUGH THE STEPS NEEDED TO BE ON AIR, FREE FROM THE BORDERS HARDENED BY THE FOSSIL FUEL REGIME.THIS IS A GUIDE THROUGH THE MAIN STEPS FOR PREPARING AN AEROCENE FREE FLIGHT: A DO-IT-TOGETHER REHEARSAL FOR LAUNCHING AND RECOVERING AEROSOLAR SCULPTURES. AEROCENE SCULPTURES ARE SOLAR POWERED AND CAN EASILY REACH ALTITUDES OF OVER 16 KM, HEATED ONLY BY THE SUN, CARRIED ONLY BY THE WINDS.

Aerosolar sculptures are able to rise off the ground because of variations in air temperature and density. When the air inside the balloon gets warmer, its density decreases, and less dense air rises. Aerosolar sculptures can carry super light technologies and the SensAIR device.

Since Aerocene means to freely float in the air, challenging physical, political and imaginary limits; through every new aerosolar flight, we increase our sensitivity to the air, by learning more about the rhythms that naturally encircle us.

The practice of Free Flight journeys—much like the universe—is expanding, thanks to the ongoing commitment of the Aerocene community around the world.

Follow the 26 Steps to be On Air and discover how to get Aerocha(i)n(ge): a new currency to reward sustainable and lighter than air mobility. A sign with Aeroglyphs—the trajectories of the aerial journey—it’s a sign to declare our independence from fossil fuels. Aerochange is earned and calculated by the algorithm:

Max altitude x 1 + distance x 1 + crossed borders x 3 + recovery x 2 + duration x 1 + distance traveled to recover x 0.1

Follow the steps carefully and keep it with you during your first flight!

The present manual was produced by the Aerocene Foundation and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

IMPORTANT

We are privileged to be able to be on air. We need to work hard together to protect this privilege and never give anyone a reason to doubt our ability to launch aerosolar sculpture without placing others in harm’s way. Always follow your local aviation authority regulations and remember the aerosolar sculptures and payloads are not toys and the practice can be dangerous if not properly initiated. Aerocene Foundation is not liable for any damage to persons, things or property that might result from solar balloon construction, flight and any and all related activities. In no event shall Aerocene Foundation be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, and/or special consequential damages whatsoever arising out of or connected with the use or misuse of its sculptures. The participant assumes all risk and liability resulting from any use of all Aerocene sculptures. Your participation and use of any Aerocene sculpture constitutes your agreement to and acceptance of these terms.

0. DIT - DO IT TOGETHER

BECOMING WEATHER DEPENDENT WITH THE ATMOSPHERE AND FRIENDS

Launching an Aerocene sculpture is not a solo adventure! It is a collective action that starts with preparing supplies for all, so, get your team together! Take your time to research: for this activity you will need to cover five* important tasks.

LEGAL & SAFETY TEAM

Tasks: Every step related to the application for permission—from the landowner of the launching spot and from the Air Aviation Authority of your country, stipulate a private Insurance. For more info go to steps: 01: CHOOSE LOCATION, 02: CHECK THE WEATHER FORECAST; 03: PREDICT THE JOURNEY; 04: GET INSURANCE; 05: SUBMIT YOUR PERMISSION

BALLOON TEAM

Tasks: Build or borrow the Aerosolar sculpture—find out how at station 6. BUILD/BORROW YOUR OWN AEROSOLAR SCULPTURE

PAYLOAD TEAM

Task: Build or borrow the device that will be attached to the sculpture—learn more at the stations directed in the step 7. BUILD/BORROW YOUR OWN PAYLOAD: FROM AIR QUALITY MONITOR SENSORS TO SENSE THE LIFE IN THE AIR, HOW TO BUILD A TRACKER DEVICE, AN INFRASOUND RECORDER AND CUT-DOWN MECHANISMS!

LAUNCH TEAM

Tasks: Organize the launch day and make sure all is ready to go on air! On site you need a minimum of three people for this activity: two for dealing with the sculpture and one dealing with technical devices.

RECOVERY TEAM

Tasks: Track and recover the sculpture and payload launched. Requires a minimum of 2 persons living nearby the predicted landing point. Usually, since the sculptures travel between 400-600 km, the recovery team is not based in the same country from where you launch.

For more info go to steps: 21. TRACK IT 22. HOW TO SPOT IT? 23. FOUND IT.

* or six! (HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS)…sometimes it is easy to have one person to keep all the teams updated and help them communicate.

1. CHOOSE LOCATION

UNDERSTAND THE BORDERS OF THE ANTHROPOCENE

AN AEROCENE JOURNEY BEGINS WITH UNDERSTANDING YOUR SURROUNDINGS. AFTER BUILDING YOUR TEAM YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE TO FIND THE RIGHT LOCATION IN ORDER TO COMPLY WITH THE SAFETY PROCEDURES OF THE FOSSIL FUEL BASED AIRSPACE CLASSIFICATION.

The best launch pad is a flat and relatively soft surface, like a beach or a grassy field – no hard surfaces like pavement, or rocky areas with stones or sharp vegetation, as these could damage the sculpture on the ground. The ideal surface will also be light in colour with a high albedo (such as a white-sand beach), to more easily reflect the Sun’s rays, though this is not a necessity. For optimal lift conditions, choose a place where you can see the Sun rise and arrive about 30 minutes before dawn to start inflating the sculpture. Do not choose a location with large obstacles like tall trees or buildings, as the amount of direct sunlight will be reduced. Make sure you have room to support the sculpture until it is high enough to carry the payload and also a few more meters to be sure it does not come down again. All in all you should have min 300m in the direction the wind blows without any trees to have a successful launch.

Never fly an Aerocene sculpture in an area with tall obstacles. Even if the wind is blowing in the other direction, you should keep in mind that it can change direction at higher altitudes.

Never fly an Aerocene sculpture close to a city or airport. The air above cities and airports is heavily restricted. You should avoid launching an Aerocene sculpture within a radius of 10 km of a city or airport… even if the wind is blowing in the other direction! It’s important to know that due to jetstreams, the main wind direction in Europe usually comes from the West (~95% of the time). So, the balloon will most likely drift East, so bear this in mind when mapping your potential obstacles. This is important because it’s more likely to get a launch approval if you consider these factors first! Depending on the country, getting the approval can take between 2 weeks-3 months.

2. CHECK THE WEATHER FORECAST

BECOMING WEATHER DEPENDENT

AEROSOLAR FLIGHTS ARE WEATHER-DEPENDENT. THE IDEAL CONDITIONS FOR A SOLAR LAUNCH TO BE SUCCESSFUL ARE: LITTLE OR NO WIND AT ALL AND LOTS OF SUNLIGHT. SINCE THESE FLIGHTS REQUIRE PLANNING IN ADVANCE, KNOWING AND CHECKING THE WEATHER WITH RELIABLE TOOLS IS ESSENTIAL.

The idea is to construct a shared platform to learn how to read weather patterns and relate to atmospheric events, harnessing knowledge from human and non human subjects.

The Aerocene community has found most success using windy.com, and from our experience the wind forecasts are reliable within the range of 7 days. Remember: never fly an Aerocene sculpture when the wind speed is higher than 5 km/h.

A very important part of every Aerocene launch begins a few days beforehand, when you check the weather. Plan your launch for a day with optimal weather conditions – a bright, sunny morning with zero (or very mild) winds. This will ensure a safe experience for you and the Aerocene sculpture.

In the age of the Anthropocene, it has become possible to ignore the tumultuous variation of the natural world, to usurp its control by jet plane and rail road, cutting through wind and storm with petrol, riding floods with motorised engines, ironically contributing, in the propulsion of greenhouse gases, to the increasing unpredictability of the weather phenomenon. Contrastingly, Aerocene aims to draw the weather out of obscurity, by proposing a new sensitivity.

Never fly an Aerocene sculpture in an area with tall obstacles. Even if the wind is blowing in the other direction, you should keep in mind that it can change direction at higher altitudes.

3. PREDICT THE JOURNEY

CROSS BORDERS!

WHERE WILL YOUR AEROSOLAR SCULPTURE LAND? IT IS CRUCIAL TO BE ABLE TO PREDICT THE TRAJECTORY OF THE FLIGHT, SINCE FOR LEGAL REQUIREMENTS, AN ESTIMATED LANDING POINT HAS TO BE SUBMITTED FOR THE PERMISSION TO GO THROUGH. KEEP IT LEGAL WHILE CROSSING THE BORDERS IMPOSED BY FOSSIL FUELS!

It is important that you understand the atmospheric signs before you launch in order to be aware of where you might go. Just because the wind is blowing in one direction on the ground does not mean that it is blowing the same direction two miles up. In fact, the opposite is most likely true. We have experienced multiple launches where our Aerocene sculptures took off travelling west, yet still landed east of our launch site.

How do you know where the sculpture will go during the flight? You can make a guess by looking at weather forecasts and through the FLOAT PREDICTOR or Habhub predictor on www.habhub.org. Invite your friends to guess the landing point…it’s funny seeing how wrong you can be about wind directions and become weather-sensitive while playing together!

4. GET INSURANCE

THE FIRST AEROSOLAR WEATHER DEPENDENT INSURANCE

THE AEROCENE FOUNDATION GAINED AN IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENT LAST YEAR: THE RIGHT TO THE FIRST EVER AEROSOLAR INSURANCE, A VERY SPECIFIC WEATHER-DEPENDENT INSURANCE ALLOWING A WINDOW OF 2 WEEKS FOR LAUNCH, AS OPPOSED TO HAVING TO PAY DAY-BY-DAY, WHICH CAN BE PROBLEMATIC AS THE WEATHER CHANGES.

Usually, larger insurance companies have their own aviation section, that incorporates the way Aerocene flies. Insurance is needed because your aerosolar sculpture has to be ready to face the fact that airplanes rule the air.

Insurance companies have no special offers for solar balloons and since solar balloons are different to ordinary helium-weather balloons, you have to ask for an individual offer. Mostly it doesn’t change the charge of a standard weather balloon insurance. Make sure they know what you are talking about. In Europe the insurance for one balloon for one day costs around 100€. Depending on the country, the insurance company requires 1-2 weeks in order to be ready.

5. SUBMIT YOUR PERMISSION

THE RIGHT TO FLOAT

UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM, IN ORDER TO FLY OVER ANY COUNTRY IT IS NECESSARY TO SECURE PERMISSION FROM THE RELEVANT NATIONAL AUTHORITIES. EACH COUNTRY HAS ITS OWN LAWS OF THE AIR, SETTLED UNDER A GENERAL INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK GIVEN BY THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION ORGANIZATION.*

In the category light (max. 4 kg), the total maximum payload must include all trackers, the balloon and ropes. Each part of the payload cannot be heavier than 500 gr.

Facilities like the FAA (US) or Landesluftfahrtbehörde (Germany) have to approve your launch. These procedures might vary in different countries but in general they will ask for:

Launch location (Exact coordinates)
Max. weight
Length (top-bottom)
What payloads are you going to fly?
Flight duration (e.g. from 11:00 UTC to sunset+2h)
Ascent rate (usual ~61m/min for solar balloons)
Descent rate (~305m/min)
Max. Altitude (usual ~15240m)
Colour of the sculpture**
A mobile number so that Air Traffic Control can call you during the flight

If you like to know more about the current status of Aerocene dialogue with the European Minister of Transportation on how to amend the Rules of the Air for Aerosolar vehicles, please check Aerocene.org website and forum.

*Today air traffic is regulated by the Annex 2 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Rules of the Air, which are published by ICAO. The Rules of the Air provide a general framework that is agreed upon worldwide. Each country then adapts the Rules to its own needs. For example, airspace is divided in classes (portions of air space with different rules). But the exact meaning and regulations for each class change from country to country. For each and every flight it is thus necessary to know (and comply with) the air regulations in all the countries that will be overflown.

**It is very important to write in the application for permission a little description explaining what the aerosolar sculpture looks like and how it works. Most facilities are accustomed to ordinary latex-helium balloons, but they might not know what a solar balloon is and how it works.

6. BUILD/BORROW YOUR OWN AEROSOLAR SCULPTURE

TO PLAY IN THE THERMODYNAMIC IMAGINARY

THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO GET AIRBORNE...FOSSIL FUEL FREE! IF YOU'D LIKE, YOU CAN BORROW A SOLAR SCULPTURE FROM AEROCENE FOUNDATION: THE AEROCENE BACKPACK. THE AEROCENE BACKPACK IS A TETHERED-FLIGHT STARTER KIT, WHICH ENABLES ANYONE TO LAUNCH THEIR OWN AEROCENE SCULPTURE AND START SENSING THE ATMOSPHERE.

Get in touch with Aerocene Foundation to borrow one!

Alternatively, you can build a model from scratch following the instructions here! Which colour is the best? Black objects attract light and heat better than white ones, as the colour black absorbs all the wavelengths of light and reflects none, while white objects do the opposite. A black envelope would absorb the most sunlight and retain the most heat, resulting in greater buoyancy and a more powerful upward lift force.

7. BUILD/BORROW YOUR OWN PAYLOAD

TO PLAY IN THE THERMODYNAMIC IMAGINARY

WHAT IS FLOATING IN THE OCEAN OF AIR ABOVE US? WHAT IS THE SOUND OF THE ANTHROPOCENE? HOW CAN WE RE-ESTABLISH A MORE ATTUNED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ATMOSPHERE? AEROCENE SCULPTURES ALLOW YOU TO TAKE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEOS, TO COLLECT PLENTY OF DATA USING SCIENTIFIC TOOLS THAT SENSE AIR QUALITY, ATMOSPHERIC PARAMETERS, THE SOUND OF THE AIR AND MORE.

The Aerocene community usually uses a device-in-a-bottle that can measure atmospheric data and GPS coordinates to create Aeroglyphs—signatures signed in the air for independence from fossil fuels. If the sculpture is going to fly freely, you definitely need to be able to track it to comply with aviation authorities. But what about measuring the levels of pollution in you area? Recording the sound of the Anthropocene, through engulfing noise pollution? Want to study the infinite wealth of life in the air?

There are many other possible devices and versions of payloads that you can attach to an aerosolar sculpture, so make sure to read here to find out how to BUILD A LIGHTWEIGHT PAYLOAD and start to discover the air!

8. GET A CALL SIGN

IT'S LIKE A LICENSE PLATE

A CALL SIGN IS A WAY TO IDENTIFY A TRANSMITTER OF A RADIO COMMUNICATION. YOU HAVE TO BE VISIBLE FOR RADARS AND YOUR POSITION HAS TO BE TRACKABLE. ONE OPTION IS TO RELY ON APRS (AUTOMATIC PACKET REPORTING SYSTEM), A RADIO LOCALIZATION SYSTEM FROM THE WORLDWIDE RADIO AMATEUR COMMUNITY.

APRS allows us to receive important telemetric information such as; distance from the launch site, current position, speed and altitude. In order to operate in APRS you need to be a certified radio amateur…but don’t worry, you can find a friend who is registered, contact the Aerocene community, or even team up with a radio amateur from your area and ask to use their call sign for your aerosolar flight.

9. TUNE IN ALL ON THE SAME FREQUENCY

JOIN THE LAUNCH TOWARDS AN EPOCH BEYOND PETROL-BASED PRACTICES

SHARE ALL DETAILS, THE CALL SIGN NUMBER AND FREQUENCIES OF TRANSMISSION WITH RADIO AMATEURS GROUPS, THEY WILL HELP TRACK THE FLIGHT!

Now that you have permission, insurance, your aerosolar sculpture and all payloads ready it is time to share the date and details with the worldwide community: let the journey begin!

Invite and reach out to the rest of the community and beyond, to get support, help and to grow the community. The launch day is a great experience and even more memorable if you Do It Together!

10. ONE DAY BEFORE: ALL READY?

FLOAT ON AIR FREE FROM CARBON EMISSIONS!

FIRST: DID YOU CHECK THE WEATHER? IS IT READY TO TAKE THE AEROSOLAR SCULPTURE ON AIR? BEFORE GOING TO THE LAUNCH SITE TO START FLOATING, YOU ALSO NEED TO TEST YOUR HARDWARE AND MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS READY.

After you’ve inflated your sculpture, it’s not the best time to discover that the batteries on your tracker are dead. So, charge the batteries and load whatever is necessary…THEN go through your equipment. We made a checklist for you:

❏ Aerosolar sculpture

❏ Payloads

❏ Rope for holding the sculpture on the ground

❏ Gloves holding the rope secure

❏ Tape and fixing material for eventual damage of the sculpture during the launch procedure

❏ Optional: a tall white tarp for covering the ground to prevent the sculpture from getting wet or damaged by thorny plants

❏ Knife or scissors

❏ Aeronautical Map

❏ Compass

❏ Ruler

❏ Pens and paper

❏ Extra rope

❏ Extra batteries

❏ Extra sculpture

❏ First Aid Kit

Now, pack everything!

11. GO TO THE LAUNCH PAD

… IF IT'S NOT TOO WINDY

TRY TO DO THIS WITH THE SMALLEST CARBON FOOTPRINT YOU CAN MANAGE. GO BY BIKE OR TRAIN, OR EVEN RUN OR SAIL! ON THE MORNING OF YOUR LAUNCH, WE RECOMMEND ARRIVING AT THE LOCATION 30 MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE SO THE AEROSOLAR SCULPTURE IS INFLATED AND READY WHEN THE SUN COMES UP.

Early mornings equals strongest lift, as winds are relatively low and the difference between the heated air inside the sculpture and the cool morning air outside will be the greatest. Launching at other times is possible, but the lift will not be as strong.

Once you get to your launch site, first consider the wind. Make sure there are no obstacles in the flight path directly downwind from your launch site. Aerocene does NOT recommend attempting to inflate a balloon if the wind is gusting at more than 5 km/h.

12. BE READY TO GET AIRBORNE

IN A NEW EPOCH-IN-THE MAKING TO OVERCOME EXTRACTIVISM

IT'S TIME TO TAKE OUT THE SCULPTURE: ONCE YOU ARE AT THE LAUNCH SITE, FIRST CHECK THE GROUND FOR SHARP OBJECTS THAT COULD CAUSE DAMAGE TO YOUR SCULPTURE.

Make sure everyone who handles the sculpture puts on gloves first.

Gloves should also be worn when holding the tether rope. If you have a tarp with you, unravel it and start unfolding the sculpture on it. While doing that, keep in mind unfolding it with its opening facing the wind. Hold it tight!

Unfold the sculpture on the ground, prepare the rope for tethering, and open the Velcro closure. Unlike other airborne vehicles, the process of inflating aerosolar sculptures releases zero carbon emissions nor particulates and requires zero gas, engines, batteries, or generators.

13. LET THE AIR FLOW

BREATHING WITH THE EARTH, FILLED ONLY WITH AIR, LIFTED ONLY BY THE SUN, CARRIED ONLY BY THE WIND

FILL UP THE TANK! WARM UP TIME: STRETCH YOUR LEGS, DEEP BREATHS...AND START THE INFLATING SESSION. FOR INFLATING THE SCULPTURE YOU NEED TWO PEOPLE AND SOME SPACE.

Hold the sculpture at the opening with two hands and from both sides, then start running so that it can fill up with air. You probably have to run a few times back and forth, or even better, if you have the chance, in a circular path, until the sculpture is fully inflated. Once the balloon is inflated you have to close it, tying off with velcro positioned at the bottom of it.

Sign up to join the next Aerocene launch program! Find the table to subscribe with your contacts and we will let you know about the next flights schedule! Sign up there, ask the mediateurs or contact the Foundation!

Aerocene sculptures take about an average of 5 minutes to inflate and, according to the weather conditions, about 10 minutes to start to float.

Aerocene sculptures are able to rise off the ground because of variations in air temperature and density. A solar balloon can only float when the air inside is warmer than the air outside. When the air inside gets warmer, its density decreases, and less dense air rises. This is the same way a hot air balloon functions, except that a hot air balloon is lifted by the heat generated from a gas burner, and Aerocene sculptures are lifted by the power of the Sun.

14. TOOLS AND DEVICES READY

...SET UP COMPLETED!

ATTACH THE PAYLOAD AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCULPTURE AND SECURE IT WITH GOOD KNOTS AND/OR LIGHT CARABINERS.

Each payload has to be mounted in the right way and it’s important to check the directions of camera and the positioning of sensor wires, so you can sense atmospheric data.

Watch out and take care of:

❏ APRS tracker turned on and transmitting position online

❏ Camera secured, turned on and recording

❏ Additional Payloads ready

15. AERONAUTS, UNITE!

SHARING YOUR RESPONSE-ABILITIES

GATHER EVERYBODY FROM TEAM AND VISITORS: IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO REMIND EVERYONE ON SITE WHY YOU ARE THERE AND THE PREPARATORY WORK THAT LEAD TO THE LAUNCH DAY.

Share what each team achieved and guess where the sculpture could land with your newfound weather-sensitivity and compare your estimate to the projected trajectory of the sculpture on a smartphone. It is very important to create awareness by sharing common knowledge and don’t forget to make it simple: sometimes unexpected visitors joins, from human to more-than-human, and everybody is welcome to share their opinions!

16. DON’T FORGET TO TURN EVERYTHING ON!

EVERYTHING...ON AIR

LAST CHECK: ALL DEVICES ON? (ARE YOU SURE?)

Believe us, even after several launches we still manage to make silly mistakes…we suggest that after double-checking, you check again.

17. CALL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL!

EXPERIENCE THE SHACKLING RULES OF THE AIR

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO CALL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AT THE EXACT MOMENT OF TAKE OFF.

Be ready to call and communicate to them that the sculpture is flying in the predicted direction.

18. USE YOUR NEW AEROSOLAR INTUITION

ADJUST TO THE RHYTHMS OF THE PLANET

WATCH OUT! WAIT FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT, BUT HURRY UP: IT MIGHT GET WINDY! BEFORE IT CAN BE LAUNCHED, YOUR SCULPTURE NEEDS TO WARM UP. THIS CAN TAKE UP TO HALF AN HOUR, DEPENDING ON THE INTENSITY OF THE SUN.

To make sure that the air stays inside, hold the opening closed during this time. You will know when the air inside is warm enough by observing the sculpture’s behaviour: if the wind is very slow or if there is no wind at all, it will try to rise and you will feel the power of the Sun in your hands.

Remember, never fly when the wind blows more than 5 km/h otherwise keeping the sculpture under control on the ground will get difficult and you will not notice the moment when it is heated up enough to launch.

19. NOW…LET IT GO!

ENTER Aerocene: A NEW ERA UNCHAINED FROM FOSSIL FUEL ADDICTION

CONGRATULATIONS, NOW THE SCULPTURE IS READY TO TAKE OFF.. REMEMBER THE CHAPTER ABOUT WEATHER FORECASTING? THIS IS THE MOMENT OF TRUTH.

The first five minutes of the flight are the most critical and decide the overall success or failure of the whole journey. When you leave the sculpture it will slowly start lifting up, and while it is doing that, you should follow it, holding the payload until it is high enough to carry it…then let go!

20. YOU ARE ON AIR

FLOATING FREE FROM BORDERS AND FREE FROM FOSSIL FUELS

STILLNESS IN MOTION…

21. TRACK IT. TRACE IT.

FOLLOW THE JOURNEY

YOU HAVE TIME ENOUGH FOR A SMALL DRINK AND…NOW IT'S TIME TO FLOW WITH THE WINDS AND FOLLOW THE AERIAL TRACE LEFT BY THE AEROSOLAR SCULPTURE. IF YOU ARE IN THE RECOVERY TEAM: BE PREPARED FOR EVERYTHIN

Contrary to the launch site you can’t choose your own landing site. This may cause some surprises when you arrive at the final GPS coordinates.

We suggest the recovery team reaches out in advance to the radio amateur community from the country where you think it will land. Best case scenario, you will find your sculpture lying, perfectly preserved, in an open field, but be prepared to climb a tree or go for a swim, to get it back. Most of the time water landing means the loss of some devices (if not waterproof), but in general the sculpture itself can be recovered without greater damage.

TIPS for recovery team: reach the landing point equipped with a ladder, a long stick (like a fishing rod) and a rubber dinghy.

22. HOW TO SPOT IT?

TUNE IN TO THE RIGHT FREQUENCY

THE RECOVERY TEAM IS ALREADY ON THE MOVE: RADIO AMATEURS IN THE AREA AROUND THE PREDICTED LANDING POINT ARE MONITORING THE TRAJECTORY. AN AJB VHNBHBGEROSOLAR LAUNCH IS ALWAYS A COLLECTIVE ACT, A DO-IT-TOGETHER TRANSNATIONAL AGREEMENT.

Radioamateur communities can listen to the frequencies of the sculpture launched and they will be glad to team up with you and find it. This is the most important thing we strive for: sharing and expanding the Aerocene community across borders.

23. FOUND IT!

AFTER A BORDERLESS JOURNEY

RECOVER ALL THE EQUIPMENT AND LEAVE NO TRACE OF THE AERIAL JOURNEY IN THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND THE LANDING POINT. AS YOU DID NOT LEAVE ANY CARBON FOOTPRINT BEHIND YOU, YOU PRESERVED THE AIR FROM FURTHER PM2,5 AND CO2 EMISSIONS.

WARNING: never attempt to retrieve your Aerocene sculpture from power lines. If it lands on power lines, call the utility company.

WARNING: never trespass on private property. First contact the landowner before retrieving the sculpture.

WARNING: if you are recovering in forests or thick bush… be on the lookout for dangerous wildlife and poison ivy and make sure everyone is wearing appropriate, protective clothing.

24. SHARE YOUR JOURNEY!

FOR A WORLD FREE FROM CARBON EMISSIONS

AEROCENE HOPEFULLY WILL INSPIRE A FOSSIL FUEL FREE SOCIETY, WITH OPEN DATA, AVAILABLE TO EVERYBODY, ENCOURAGING RESPONSE-ABILITY IN THE ACCESS AND USAGE OF AEROSOLAR SCULPTURES!

Your stories, images and videos can’t wait to be ON AIR! #Aeroceneonair

25. DISCOVER THE OCEAN OF AIR

COLLECT, SHARE AND DECODE TOGETHER THE DATA

WHAT’S ON AIR? ALL PAYLOADS CONTAIN A WORLD: DISCOVER THE DATA YOU HAVE COLLECTED.

You have all the payloads back with you, full of data and interesting measurements according to what you decided to attach! As said before, one of the best things to do is to start from the tracking system device, first, download and save everything. You will find a data set of coordinates that can be transformed into a KML data sheet that can be easily turned into an Aeroglyph using Google Earth. If you decided to fly a particulate matter sensor, check the different pollution levels at different altitudes and zones along the journey!

26. SIGN WITH THE AIR

IMPRESS YOUR SIGNATURE WITH THE AIR TO DECLARE INDEPENDENCE FROM FOSSIL FUELS

JOIN THE MOVEMENT FOR INDEPENDENCE FROM FOSSIL FUELS. WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME AIRSHIP: THE EARTH. EVERYTIME AN AEROCENE SCULPTURE FLOATS, IT WEAVES A COMPLETELY UNIQUE CHOREOGRAPHY. VISUALISE THIS TO SIGN TOWARDS THE DECARBONISATION OF THE AIR.

A motion tracker, recording the sculpture’s movements, allows us to convert the GPS coordinates into a digital rendering of the aerial path. The movements of each flight serve as signatures for the Declaration of Independence from Fossil Fuels — a unified statement of commitment to move towards a more sustainable way of inhabiting our planet. Every new flight marks a step closer to the celebration of a new Day of the Air.

FLIGHTS

Notes from Palais de Tokyo

Notes from Palais de Tokyo: Looking Skywards with our Next Generation of Creators

Reflections on the value of running Aerocene workshops with children.

By Grace Pappas

So much inspiration. So much excitement. So much was felt amongst our youngest of Aeronauts.

Children. Give them some materials, some space in and they will create their own worlds to completely immerse themselves within in no time. They take what you give them and use it as material to weave brilliant worlds of imagination. We speak a lot of the value of childhood imagination in the creative field, but how does this abstract value translate in graspable real-life terms?

In the context of the Aerocene workshops in Palais de Tokyo, I gave newborn Aerocene enthusiasts spheres, lenses, sticks and tape; they created floating cities, silver dragon parachutes, hand-held solar concentrators, all taken out of our most innocent and colourful dreams. It is easy to accept how lovely such exercises are but can we dig deeper into talking of the value of it?

The point of departure for this conversation is that imagination doesn’t stay confined only within the realms of the intangible and inexistent. Imagination is a form of future creation. Growing up, we get exposed to information, ideas and possibilities. Later in our lives this early information we get exposed to turns into usable knowledge answering to our everyday problems; imagination reconfigured into real-world answers. Nourishing this collection of information early can give rise to new possibilities in the future. What we dream of today lays the grounds for how we problem solve in the future. These are the building blocks for the world of the future. Being aware of this can be one of the most seminal points in conversing about the environment and finding creative ways to sustain it. With this in mind, I look positively into a future when our young Aeronauts become engineers, architects, and thinkers.

Children. They take what you give them and use it as material to weave brilliant worlds of imagination. This imagination is a form of future creation

When I was maybe 10 years old, my father gifted me an origami book he found during his travels in Japan. I got immersed in it, trying out all the different creations I had the time and patience exploring. Among them was a model for a paper bird that opened and closed its beak as a geometrical response to the opening and closing of its wings.

11 years later I met Daniel and the Aerocene team during an Aerocene Hack in London. They presented me an interesting fact and a thought provoking challenge. Fact: Balloons expand as they go upwards. Challenge: Create a trap that tests for life at 10 km height. All came together; the origami got on the balloon and it became a trap to test life in the air. Simple. Uncomplicated. Elemental. Of course not all experiences are as linear as this but the value remains the same; the information we learn while growing to become adults reconfigure into answers to problems we are faced with later in our lives. If the information we find valuable to collect is mechanically inclined, it is only natural that the answers we come up with are going to mirror that.

What materials do we pass on to our next generation? And perhaps more importantly, how can these materials define the world of tomorrow? How different is tomorrow going to look like if we pointed the kids to look at the sun as a source of energy instead of fossil fuels? What if we gave children an aerosolar sculpture instead of a toy car or plane? What if we raised them with stories of floating with the wind instead of stories of violent conquering? At a critical time for our planet like this, we can imagine very easily how teachings we pass on to the next generation can become a make-it-or-break-it-deal for the future of our planet. The responsibility is huge but so is the potential.

Think about this. Parents! What if you borrowed an Aerosolar Sculpture from Aerocene Foundation and head outdoors? Reattune yourselves and your children to the environment. Teach each other. Show your kids how bodies can be lifted so simply; all it takes is some air and heat coming from the sun. Sow your children’s thinking toolboxes with seeds of mechanical, fossil-fuels-free principles and let us see together how these seeds can sprout into the future.

FLIGHTS

Marble Breeze or the politics of the troposphere

Marble Breeze

or the politics of the troposphere

Created by

Adrien Rigobello: Project Manager, Strategic Designer (electronics, cartography)
Waèl Allouche: Creative Director
Paula Echeverri Montes: Strategic Designer (open data)
Paul Carneau: Strategic Designer (electronics)
Tim Leeson: Strategic Designer (weather data)
Tariq Heijboer: Graphic Designer and Editor of the booklet

Together with Aerocene, thr34d5 has invited 15 participants to a free experimental workshop from Nov. 19th to 25th 2018, in the context of Tomás Saraceno‘s Carte Blanche exhibition in Palais de Tokyo, Paris.

YOU CAN HAVE A LOOK AT THE LECTURES THAT WERE GIVEN DURING THE WORKSHOP HERE

DOWNLOAD THE PUBLICATION EDITED BY TARIQ HEJBOER HERE

From open data de-encryption to measurement instrument making, the Marble Breeze reveals itself at its many scales and shapes. As agents of society, we want to understand the hidden-to-our-senses complex composition of the omnipresent, yet often ignored, surrounding matter that is air, to engage in the politics of the troposphere.Such as a cone can be defined by its various profiles (circle, ellipse, point,…), we approach reality by aggregating various points of view. The amorphous and subjective materiality of air is explored with each agent’s sensitivity, unrolling the folds of reality. We design our own instruments to communicate our impressions of the world. This process is essential to us to understand the Anthropocenic reality and create a variety of semantics for it. We are a legion – defending a post-Anthropocentric philosophy.The Marble Breeze experimental workshop was all about developing a material sensitivity to air, and developing a sensitive approach to its complexity, though the process of instrument design and cartography.

– adrien rigobello

Acknowlegements

thr34d5 team would like to thank Aerocene for the trust and support during the whole process, and for making possible the production of the final booklet! Namely, we would like to thank a lot Camilla Berggren Lundell and Grace Pappas.

We would also like to thank Palais de Tokyo for the perfect conditions and help that they gave us, especially Simon Bruneel!

We are thanking very much Ewen Chardonnet for his help in flying the Aerocene sculptures!

And with thr34d5 and Tariq we would like to thank all the participants for boarding with us in this experimental workshop that went very well! Amazing discussions and so much energy, we are very glad to have had the chance to share this time and space with you all!

AIRmonica

hear the harmony of the air

We want to hear the harmony of the Air and see its lifeforms, through the musical game of gases and showing bacterial growth as 3D objects.

It always starts on a personal level, everyone grew bacteria in their kitchen. The sample became a nudge, as we live in a shared environment our habits affect its form and create a “landscape” in multiple scales.

being adrift

Leaves and balloons drift in the breeze …

And dark matter is the ultimate drifter. In modern cosmology, the only force acting on it is gravity. That means it is in free fall, and like an astronaut in orbit, it feels no forces. Hypothetical dark-matter beings might be able to feel tidal forces …

air as transmitter

The air is the transmitter of sound, but we can’t see it. How can we represent sound without air? Does the sound has an image, a material representation?
We decided to record the sound around the Palais de Tokyo, taking advantage of the protest in Paris transmitting reflection on politics expressed through anger.

READ MORE

Weather data

design semantics

A media is a map,

a map is a language.

The post-anthropocentric narrative requires the adoption of a new language, our own, moving the frontiers of the medias of the existing worlds. To challenge the existing mapping rules we are adopting linguistic’s semantic.
Such as a world map is structured by geographical areas, or as the first TV Image of Mars by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is made of a matrix on an assembly of stripes, the syntax of a map is its context, it is the structure of the information.

A morphology can be a 2D representation, such as dots on a map, or a 3D structure, such as the cubes in the Speelhuis architectural project by Piet Blom. How, within the structure, does the information unravel? How does it inscribe itself?

The lexicon, or vocabulary, is the scope of colors on a map for example. It is an additional layer to the morphology. It can fit within the color codes suggestions provided by NASA – unifying the information communication between maps; it can also be challenged and become blurry, imprecise, and participative. Turned into a gradient of textures for our other senses such as basses to highs, rough to smooth.

Then comes the phonology, the accent, the sub-languages. The designer’s intent can be retrieved in this form – it evolves through time and is culturally situated. For sure, it can be neutral and standardizing, we wish to see it contrasting and taking a stand.

– adrien rigobello

FLIGHTS

AEROCENE ALBEDO AEROREFLECTOR MANUAL

Aerocene Foundation is glad to present the manual for the Aeroreflector. Fly, cook and cool the earth with the sun – reflect on a new epoch, free from fossil fuels!” The Aeroreflector invites a collective turn towards the most important energy source for earthly life, the Sun.

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