A new animation commission for Lancaster University, responding to their environmental modelling research, specifically around the Morecambe Bay area. The bay is a unique place for scientific study because of its complex and interrelated environments such as the estuary, salt marshes, five river systems, and ecosystems sustaining migrating birds. The research models and predict futures - for instance the effects of climate change upon locality - by using a variety of datasets, digital technologies and process modelling.

 

The animation merges images of Morecambe Bay with drawings inspired by environmental models. The original drawings were made by hand and subsequently animated by using code developed by a creative technologist. The interaction between the code and local weather data produces different types of movements in the drawings. The animation process generates digital drawings from the inter-relationship between analogue drawings and data, thereby mirroring the research process at Lancaster, which moves between the physicality of place to generate a 'digital twin’ of place.

 

The soundtrack of the animation is the voice of Professor Gordon Blair, eloquently describing the essence of the research. The dance between the animation visuals and his words beautifully evoke the complexities, the uncertainties and the importance of the research.