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Collecting Low Impact Environmental Data with Kites

Chucho (Jesús) Ocampo Aguilar
Artist in Residence, Space Exploration Initiative, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
Lanzarote
February 2024

Papalotes Atmosféricos, by Chucho (Jesús) Ocampo Aguilar, introduces a series of wind interfaces designed to explore kites and wind instruments for the purpose of low impact data collection and conduits for performative environmental observation and non-cartesian mapmaking.

In this fieldwork exploration, kite strings resonated with the sound of the wind, while sensors and cameras were lifted into the sky to capture Calima dust storms carried from the Sahara desert and other meteorological phenomena; fieldwork brought to life. As Artist in Residence with the MIT Space Exploration Initiative’s Lunar research in Lanzarote, Chucho’s artistic research methods highlighted a sense of site specificity to the space analogue landscape.




Researcher:
Chucho (Jesús) Ocampo Aguilar 

Special thanks:
MIT Media Lab
Carmelo Peña Santana & Jable de TAO
Timanfaya National Park
Laboratorio de Geociencias de Lanzarote








Photos: Maggie Coblentz