Reducing carbon emissions is high on the global agenda. The residential sector is the third biggest emitter which means we need to change the relationship we have with our homes to minimize the effect household emissions have on the climate. To achieve such a transition, we need better ways of engaging society without marginalizing different groups based on their social, economic or political status.
Home: Zero is an art installation which uses one of the greatest collections of art in the world (the National Gallery’s collection) to implement an experience which inspires awareness and critical thinking of how human lives affect the environment. The Gallery’s collection portrays different aspects of human lives, society and landscape frozen in time, highlighting how radically society has changed throughout the years, in response to external events throughout history. In contrast, Home: Zero complements the collection by displaying how many such sceneries have changed irrevocably in todays’ world.
Children and younger individuals have been less exposed to the habits and prejudices shaping modern lifestyle, and at the same time are most affected by environmental consequences of that same lifestyle. Data collected in this project will be used to examine the contrast between sentiment and susceptibility to change, in adult family members versus children from the same household. We will evaluate different means of engagement with families and how their household habits change over an extended period of time. Furthermore, it will investigate whether there are social demographic limitations for the power of art and whether it is possible to engage equally well with different circles within society.
The Home: Zero installation was created by our project partners Makers of Imaginary worlds and co-designed members of the prospective audience to help access the role they hold in guiding user-centred design of immersive art applications.
University of Nottingham Press Release: National Gallery artwork and innovative technology inspiring a more sustainable future
Home: Zero, commissioned by Nesta and National Gallery X (The National Gallery and King’s College London) has been showcased at the National Gallery in London and at Lakeside Arts Museum, Nottingham. Additional showings are planned for July 2022.
Start date 1 June 2022 – 31 May 2023
Introduction blog, mid blog, final blog
This project sits with Horizon’s Agile programme (Round 2)
Horizon Digital Economy Research, University of
Nottingham Innovation Park, Triumph Road, Nottingham,
NG7 2TU
horizon@nottingham.ac.uk
