Air Pollution Exposure (Morning Commute)
Acrylic paint, oil pastel, pencil and painted paper on 640gsm paper. Installed at the University of Leicester.
A commission for a research project, ‘Creative Climates: Creatively Communicating the Environmental Emergency’, which aims to connect local environment and climate projects with arts organisations.
This unique abstract artwork interprets the findings from the report ‘Personal air pollution exposure during morning commute car and active transport journeys.’
An introduction to the report explains ‘Commuting by car in cities during rush hour can potentially result in the commuter being exposed to large concentrations of pollutants. We investigated the differences in pollutant concentrations by commute type in real world journeys in a typical medium-sized city in the UK’.
Stevens was interested in visualising the difference between air pollution exposure in particular Nitrogen Dioxide using the idea of an area graph as a starting point. The artwork showcases the results of air pollution exposure during commuter hours to those travelling by car, bicycle and by foot in Leicester City Centre.
The report findings are showcased using a colour coded system with green representing commuter walkers, blue for cyclists and brown for drivers. Overall commuters that walk to work are exposed to the least amount of air pollutants. Cyclist are exposed to a medium-high level of ground-level ozone and particulate matter when compared to commuter walkers but lower when compared to commuter drivers. Drivers are exposed to a large concentration of pollutants during commuter hours when compared to cycling or walking to work.
The red squares in each corner of the composition act as a start and end point for the commute from home to work, with 5 lines dictating the Monday to Friday working week. The ‘key’ in the bottom right-hand corner demonstrates commuter preference for travelling into work in Leicestershire determined on average by car (56%), bicycle (3%) or by walking (13%) based on a 2011 census of commuter behaviour in England.
Watch the video interview with Dr Harry Whitehead here.
