Floating Point is a workshop that deals with creative water quality visualization. The project was sponsored by an Artist-In-Labs residency at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology during the summer/fall of 2004.

The broader goal of the workshops was to creatively design art that promotes sustainable and ecologically responsible modes of living, and a general awareness of both local and global water quality issues.

PIXELS AND WATER

Each animation begins with a 32-bit one-pixel square. Water is an essential resource for life; the pixel is the basic unit of the screen. Data gathered over time can create complexity out of this very simple form. At the beginning of the animation, a small square roves the white canvas leaving a trail of marks. The concentration of dissolved oxygen determines how much of the white canvas the square can occupy. Increased amounts of dissolved oxygen will show an all-over coverage pattern (image at right). The circles drawn in the image shows points where the dissolved oxygen level increased by more than 1 mg/L.