Floating with the Sun, liberating the air
Name of the Vehicle Aerocene Explorer 017
m3 of Aerial capacity 61 m3
Location Plage de Bodri, L’ile Rousse, Corse,FR 42.6300° N, 8.9140° E
Date of the flight 12.08.2019
Time 10:15
Duration of the flight 2h 48’
Maximum altitude 12,43m
Aerochange 66.75
017 / 61 / 42.6300° N, 8.9140° E / 12.08.2019 / 10:15 / 2h 48’ / 12.43 / 66.75 /
Signed with Alice Lamperti, Giulia Solari, Patrizia Pirri, Massimo Lamperti
Aerocene Berlin community member Alice Lamperti borrowed a backpack, carried it to the french island and launched the Aerocene sculpture on the beach of Le bodri, L’Ile Rousse. With the power of solar radiation and the drifts of the wind the aerosolar sculpture rose along the rough coastlines of the island for the very first time. In its buoyancy we can see once more how easy it is to find the path to enter the Aerocene era. A time, in the near future, free from carbon emissions.
Here’s what happened:
Floating with the Sun, liberating the air.
A short story
Summer 2019, August. Leaving Berlin has never been this easy. Flashes of cements overlapping with the blazed landscape of the northern coastline of Corsica, white and blue skies merging, the mediterranean gentle breeze caressing the skin. That’s where we floated, on the water, for the air.
The pilot crew assigned and chosen for this launch was my family, part of it.
First of all, my dad, Massimo, Aerocene enthusiast and true supporter. He has wished to launch one aerosolar sculpture for years and finally I managed to ask Aerocene Foundation to borrow it in August 2019, knowing the upcoming trip to the island. He was interested in the possibilities of the Aerocene kit as a learning polyfunctional device for the kids surrounding him at school all day.
As he explained “Sometimes children seem utopian about whether another world/way is possible. Aerocene opens up the possibility of approaching the subject in a playful way, in contact with nature and the environment. I am convinced that the artistic approach is a valid lever to break out of the schemes of conventional education, often detached from the world outside and more sensitive, sensible, broader approaches.”
Second in command, Patrizia, my mother, nomad in the heart, already imagined how to cross the sea floating with the sculpture, in order to avoid the ferry and car trip to go back to Milan once the holidays were to be over. “We could just hang ourself to it and wait. Maybe we land in Tuscany and we have the perfect excuse to not go back to work. Or imagine landing in Piazza del Duomo, perfectly, arriving with no fuss, one foot on the ground, packing fast the sculpture, packing the backpack and stepping on the tram ahha!”
Third but not least, Giulia Solari, the gentlest soul, long time companion and friend since the beginnings of Alice’s adventure on this planet. Working for different communication agencies, Giulia found the beauty and poetry of Aerocene and its power to deliver a powerful message to people, fostering new discourses and approaches toward environmental awareness and sustainability.
Which are the right questions to address climate change? How can we move forward in a different way as we are used to?
On 12th of August we all woke up early, the sky was clear and the sun was already high and at 7:30 – like good employees of the air, we took the Aerocene backpack, swimsuit on and via.
From the campsite we were staying, there is a relatively short walk to arrive on the beach, passing by the canfield and bulrushes, then the dunes and finally the sand, the sea.
Checking the manual enclosed in the kit we realized the day granted us perfect conditions to launch in complete safety. So it was time to start running.
The inflation process is quick, painless and fun, even for lazy runners – as myself. In 5 minutes the sculpture was filled with air and by the time we closed the velcro to seale it it was already starting to float, hovering on the sandy, warm beach. As per the beach albedo, it was easier than in other locations to have a lift, since the bright surface of the ground helps the sculpture to rise enhancing the power of the sun from above, refracting from the ground.
And that was it: pure attunement with the air. You could feel the stillness and the sculpture coming to life because of its bond with the air. From sewn fabric, it became alive, a breathing agent showing us that a new, different movement is possible.
Then we continued the experience by attaching the SensAir device, recording atmospheric data to send back to aerocene foundation and discover the temperature differential from the inside of the sculpture to the surrounding air, the pressure, the reached altitude.
We took some aerial pictures and videos with the device-integrated camera and we kept on feeling and thinking, sharing turns with the rope handling, like a fluid choreography among my, my parents, my friend, together with the sun and the air.
It is a rare feeling, the instant realization of being part of something bigger, and having the power to preserve it, together, starting with the people you care, caring for all the elements.
