Data Crystal: OSU
Refik Anadol | Toomey Lobby
Refik Anadol (b. 1985, Istanbul, Turkey)
Data Crystal: OSU (2024) is an innovative three-dimensional artwork in the Toomey Lobby that interprets 10,000 hours of audio recordings from Oregon's forests into an AI-driven data sculpture. Captured by 1,200 microphones in the Cascade and Coast Ranges, these recordings were gathered by Oregon State University's College of Forestry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station. The recordings, digitally processed by Anadol’s studio, shaped the three-dimensional form of the sculpture. On its surface, projectors display an abstracted archive of over 1.9 million images of Oregon landscapes.
This piece provides a unique snapshot of the forests before the Lookout Fire in summer 2023, which consumed several of the forests' long-term research sites. The artwork underscores the critical role of data in understanding ecosystem changes and recovery and exemplifies the potential of art and technology convergence. The sculpture, one of Refik Anadol's pioneering projects that blends environmental data with 3D printing technologies, represents a meaningful collaboration across the realms of art, science, technology, and environmental study, reflecting the broader OSU community's commitment to these values.
To collect the data utilized by Data Crystal: OSU, scientists placed autonomous recording units – small, programmable audio recording devices –at research sites in forests. While the sites vary depending on the research, the units are often placed high in the canopy of old-growth trees.
Images: Blake Brown, OSU | PRAx
H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research Program
Data Collected by Nina Ferrari and Matthew Betts, Oregon State University
Nina Ferrari is a Ph.D. student in the Forest Landscape Ecology Lab in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University. She researches the abiotic and biotic drivers of vertical bird distributions in old-growth and second-growth forests. Her research helps us understand how forests can mitigate the effects of climate change on birds.
Matthew G. Betts, Ph.D., is Ruth Spaniol Chair and Professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University. He runs the Forest Landscape Ecology Lab and is the lead principal investigator for the Long-Term Ecological Research Program at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, which has been a National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research site since 1980. His research focuses on landscape ecology and wildlife ecology.
Images: Matthew Betts
U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station
Data Collected by Damon Lesmeister, Pacific Northwest Bioacoustics Lab
Damon Lesmeister, Ph.D., is the principal investigator of the Pacific Northwest Bioacoustics Lab and a research wildlife biologist for the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station. He leads large-scale passive acoustic monitoring of forest ecosystems throughout the Pacific Northwest to study wildlife populations and changes in biodiversity. The long-term research is providing unprecedented insights into the lives of iconic wildlife species and threats to their persistence.