“Exit” explores the cartographies of human migration through six panoramic data visualization narratives, projected as a two meter tall video strip spanning a 360 degree rotunda. Created in 2008 for the Terre Natale exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in Paris.
This animation, Population Divide, begins the first segment of Narrative 1: Population Shift. The projected text reads “There are over 6 billion people on Earth. Each of these pixels represents 1,000 people. 2007 marked a threshold. More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities.”
These visuals were created by Stewart Smith (stewartsmith.io) and Robert Gerard Pietrusko (warning-office.org) in 2008 using a beta version of Processing, Java, OpenGL, and their bespoke panorama animation framework, Bronson.
Visitors enter a dark rotunda to discover a mirror-image Earth revolving about the room, printing animated maps and data to the panoramic wall’s curved surface. Over the course of forty-five minutes—divided into six narrative chapters—Exit quantifies both voluntary and forced movement across the globe due to political, economic, and environmental factors. The piece gives visual form to cultural theorist Paul Virilio’s belief that humanity is now defined by migration.
“Exit” credits: Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Laura Kurgan, Mark Hansen, and Ben Rubin. In collaboration with Stewart Smith, and Robert Gerard Pietrusko. With Aaron Meyers, Michael Doherty, and Hans-Christoph Steiner. Projection system created by Bernd Lintermann and managed with Niko Völzow, both of the Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (ZKM).
For more about Exit see stewd.io/w/exit
