Exploring Circularity Through Science and Art: CircEUlar Project at the Vienna Climate Summit

Within the framework of the Klima Biennale Wien, a unique collaboration between science and art highlighted CircEUlar’s research findings through the lens of artists.

Over a four-month period, a distinguished curator, Nora Mayr, facilitated dynamic exchanges between four groups of researchers from CircEUlar with the artists Barbara Kapusta, Borjana Ventzislavova, Julian Palacz, and Imayna Caceres. Under the title “Sensing Resonance“, these collaborative efforts resulted in a series of artworks that were unveiled for the first time at the Vienna Climate Summit, held at KunstHausWien on 24 and 25 June 2024.

The initiative aims to enrich cultural education by fostering forward-thinking concepts for schools and extracurricular learning programmes. Bringing together the public and stakeholders from culture, science, education, and schools, the event sparked cross-disciplinary dialogue through a combination of good practice examples, workshops, and scientific, practical, and artistic impulses. The objective of the event was to collectively find new approaches for communicating climate and scientific knowledge.

Sensing Resonance

Resonance can be an echo, but it can also refer to when one body reverberates in unison with another. In psychology, resonance describes the moment in which a feeling or thought triggers something in us – when it resonates with us emotionally.

“Sensing Resonance showcases four artistic responses to the EU project CircEUlar, which focuses on the circular economy. For me, the exciting aspect of this art and science collaboration was that the outcome of this encounter was initially uncertain. It was a collective leap into the unknown, which ultimately produced playful, poetic, and even humorous ripples,” says Nora Mayr, the curator.

Barbara Kapusta x “Narratives for Circular Economy-driven Net-Zero Emission Pathways”

In their presentation at the Vienna Climate Summit, Volker Krey (IIASA), Barbara Kapusta, and Nora Mayr shared insights into the collaborative process behind the artistic interpretation of selected findings from the development or “Narratives for Circular Economy-driven Net-Zero Emission Pathways”.

Building upon existing data and their potential for a net-zero emission trajectory, the research project “Narratives for Circular Economy-driven Net-Zero Emission Pathways” is developing concepts for various future scenarios to facilitate the integration of circular economy principles. At the heart of the project lie principles such as dematerialisation, extending the lifespan of material stocks, and enhancing recycling and waste treatment. Additionally, the project examines the boundary conditions — geopolitical, economic, and psychological — that may either facilitate or impede change, while delving into the pivotal question, “How might possible futures unfold if we successfully adopt certain circular production and consumption practices?” through a dynamic synergy of art and science.

Sensing Resonance with Barbara Kapusta is developed by the artist in an exchange with Volker Krey (IIASA), Elena Verdolini (CMCC), and Marina Jovanovic (IIASA).

Borjana Ventzislavova x “Circular Consumption Practices”

In an exchange with Henrike Rau (LMU) and Eoin Grealis (LMU), Borjana Ventzislavova developed proposals for possible changes towards a more equal, inclusive, and harmonious world, using modified quotes from the interviews conducted for the CircEUlar research project “Circular Consumption Practices” to address the absurdities of our consumer world.

On the basis of biographical interviews conducted across Western Europe, the project “Circular Consumption Practices” explores the realities of people’s daily consumption and their links to circularity. The interviews uncover the reasons behind an individual’s engagement (or lack thereof) in promising practices such as living without a car, sharing living spaces, or buying and selling second-hand goods online.

Under the title Now it’s sunny in the rich man’s world!, Borjana Ventzislavova is developing a “sketch for our world” comprised of audio, video, and photographic works, which addresses a central factor in climate concerns: the fact that the wealthiest segment of the population is the strongest driving force behind global warming.

Julian Palacz x “Mapping Building Stocks across Europe”

During the event, the audience was engaged by an interactive installation and a series of laser engraved drawings that playfully manipulate the collected floor plans of the research project “Mapping Building Stocks across Europe” and analyse their aesthetic characteristics.

The research project “Mapping Building Stocks across Europe” aims to develop detailed, high-resolution maps of building stocks across Europe that may reveal unexpected spatial patterns. To achieve this immense task, the research team collected data from more than 200 million buildings in 30 countries (EUBUCCO data set).

Collaborating with Nikola Milojevic-Dupont (MCC), Julian Palacz focused on the visualisation and poetic representation of data under the title ‘Little Boxes‘. Through speculative queries within the database, Palacz generates meta-referential correlations that open up new perspectives on the existing data set.

Imayna Caceres x “Biodiversity Footprint of Urban Consumption”

The Vienna Climate Summit also featured a lecture performance by artist Imayna Caceres, inspired by her exchange with scientists Lisa Kaufmann (BOKU) and Helmut Haberl (BOKU).

Many of us are aware that our dietary choices and consumption habits directly impact the climate and biodiversity. In recent years, numerous research reports have honed in on the interplay between global ecological shifts and a sustainable and healthy food system in Vienna. These reports encompass analyses of global land use and its connection with consumption trends, which necessitate complex supply chains – for example, a spatially explicit assessment of the regional to global impacts of Viennese biomass consumption. Imayna Caceres contrasts this research with her own investigations into sensory-based forms of knowledge and counter-narratives of symbiotic worlds.