Seeing the Invisible: Co-Creating Wearable Air Pollution Visualization Artwork for Public Engagement
Air pollution is both a climate crisis and a public health emergency, yet its most harmful components remain invisible to the human eye. Our interdisciplinary team of computational artists, engineers, and atmospheric scientists is tackling this challenge through a novel combination of art, technology, and citizen science. Working across York University in collaboration with OCAD University under a New Frontiers Research Fund grant, we are developing a low-cost, distributable air pollution sensor capable of isolating black carbon—the most hazardous airborne particulate, produced by vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, and wildfires.
This presentation will explore how this project in progress is translating environmental data into lived experience, engaging the public through participatory art interventions. Our approach includes mapping black carbon levels across Toronto, co-creating wearable artworks that visualize real-time pollution exposure, and organizing a public parade where citizens embody the data in motion. These efforts will culminate in a 2026 exhibition with a community partner, featuring the wearable pieces, video and photo documentation, and workshops where visitors can monitor their own air pollution exposure using our sensor-integrated devices.
By merging scientific precision with artistic expression, this work seeks to make air pollution visible, tangible, and personally relevant. How can creative methodologies foster public agency in addressing the climate crisis? What role does embodied sensing play in environmental justice? This talk will cross disciplinary boundaries to explore how artistic interventions can ignite climate action in urban spaces.
