John Gerrard创建的旗帜模拟滚滚黑烟，作为气候变化的象征
John Gerrard creates simulated flag of billowing black smoke as a symbol of climate change

由专筑网Yumi，李韧编译

烟雾的痕迹形成千变万化的旗帜，这件作品由爱尔兰的艺术家John Gerrard设计，强调地球大气层中二氧化碳含量增加对地球环境造成了巨大威胁。从照片看这个旗帜十分真实——但是事实上这是一种逼真的虚拟仿真。这段视频在伦敦萨默塞特宫的大屏幕上播出为期一周的时间，这是为了与四月的地球日呼应。

Trails of smoke form an ever-changing black flag , created by Irish artist John Gerrard to highlight the threat posed by increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere.  The photo suggests that the flag is a real installation – but it is actually a lifelike virtual simulation.  It was broadcast on a large screen in the courtyard of London's Somerset House for a week, to coincide with Earth Day back in April.

该项目位于Spindletop，那是二十世纪初在德克萨斯发现的一个巨大油田。这里是Lucas喷油井的所在地，最初每天大约产出100000桶石油，该基地与德克萨斯的繁荣密切相关。然而当今人们很难想象到这块贫瘠土地曾经是多么富有。

The setting for the project is Spindletop, a vast oil field discovered in Texas at the start of the 20th century. As the home of the Lucas gusher, which initially produced around 100,000 barrels of oil per day, the site has become synonymous with the Texas oil boom.  Today it is hard to imagine that this site, which is now completely barren, was once a highly valuable piece of real estate.

Gerrard的公司名为Western Flag，目的是突出过去和现在的对比。“二十世纪最大的产物不仅是人口爆炸和逐步攀升的生活水平，还包括大气中大幅提高的二氧化碳含量。”艺术家说：“这个旗帜用来表述这种无形的气体，用这种形象的表达方式表明这是国际风险。我更愿意把它看作是一种新世界秩序的旗帜。”

Gerrard's film, called Western Flag, aims to highlight the contrast between then and now.  "One of the greatest legacies of the 20th century is not just population explosion or better living standards, but vastly raised carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere," said the artist.  "A new flag attempts to give this invisible gas, this international risk, an image, a way to represent itself. I like to think of it as a flag for a new kind of world order."

Gerrard用实时计算机图形创建模拟系统，这是一个技术型软件，把基地的综合摄影转化成计算机编码。然后，在节目的播放时间内，使用最新的摄影记录不断改变构建的场景。直播信息则通过计算机以每秒50帧的速度传播，这意味着人们看到的场景是生活中的真实存在。因此，观看者能看见日出并准确的设置正确的时间，甚至能观察日间光线和阴影的变化程度。

Gerrard used real-time computer graphics to create the simulation. It is technically a piece of software, built by converting a comprehensive photographic survey of the site into computer code.  Then, for the duration of the broadcast, the constructed scene was constantly updated using the latest photographic recordings. Live information was fed through by a computer at a rate of 50 frames per second – meaning the view was true to life at every moment.  As a result, viewers were able to watch the sun rising and setting at precisely the right times, and to observe the changing levels of light and shadow across the day.

为了尽可能的真实，这个模拟旗帜（一根有七个烟嘴的细长杆）在节目播出之后便再也没有出现过。

To match, the simulated flag – a slender pole with seven smoke spouts – didn't repeat itself at any point during the broadcast, in order to be as realistic as possible.

出处：本文译自www.dezeen.com/，转载请注明出处。