SP0289: Ancient Maya Climate Change Experience

Collaboration between scientists and artists is rare and yet holds much potential as a method for communicating science across a population. The proposed project will create a novel opportunity in science communication by visually rendering palaeoclimate data into forms of public art. Participants will be able to visually understand the changing population, vegetation and climate of the ancient Maya population of Itzan from over 6000 years ago until today, based on geochemical data collected in Guatemala and analysed in Québec. This will take the form of a video moving through the landscapes of the ancient site as a timelapse, and people can watch the story of an ancient society’s adaptation, survival, and eventual collapse because of similar environmental challenges that we are facing today — drought and extreme weather events. The timelapse will move slowly through 6000 years and when it has finished it will loop. It will be a powerful and convincing narrative in the context of anthropogenic climate change. We will:

1. Develop a new scientific methodology to communicate climate change science in the form of digital art, and;

2. Produce digital art that is moving and aesthetically pleasing to evoke an emotional response.

Our methodology will involve converting a geochemical dataset into a high-fidelity visualisation of the site of the ancient Maya population centre of Itzan. We will combine these novel techniques for determining demographic and environmental change with Unreal Engine, a real- time computer graphics technologies used to create video games. The final product will be a video that has the option to be projected on screens or on walls of buildings. Given the public health context, we are applying for seed funding to first develop the video and host it online, and based on the developing covid situation explore options for exhibition on campus. For the time being it will be displayed online. Our dissemination activities in schools will be on a volunteer basis.

Visualisation of data using our methodology will capture the imagination of people with diverse cultural and scientific backgrounds in terms of the incredible range and kinds of insights that scientific investigations can produce. This means that the impact extends beyond the McGill community, to individuals, classrooms, and other cultural institutions. Remote viewing is also available to improve access in the context of covid-19.

An artistic statement is attached to give an impression of the vision as well as the capabilities of the software.