Sensing Change: Calendar of Rain
Part of the Science History Institute’s yearlong Sensing Change initiative, Calendar of Rain by artist Stacy Levy was an ongoing visual record of precipitation. Between June 2013 and June 2014, a funnel outside the Institute’s building collected water in a bottle labeled with the date. Every 24 hours the bottle was capped and a new bottle was placed under the funnel. The collection of these bottles was on display in our Hach Gallery, creating a bar graph of precipitation for the year. At the end of the exhibition, bottles were given to visitors as mementos of the yearlong event.
What’s it going to feel like for you to experience this piece of science? That’s this moment of science I really love, because people were like, ‘Wow, look how the world works. Check it out.’
—Stacy Levy
Can art be a form of experimentation that explains daily phenomena? Stacy Levy explores these questions in her work Calendar of Rain.
Art is more than something pretty to look at, says Stacy Levy.
Based in rural Pennsylvania, Stacy Levy is a sculptor whose work translates and visualizes the often unseen processes and patterns of the natural world through science and art. Her site-specific work is often done in partnership with scientists, engineers, and architects. In an interview with our staff Levy spoke about Calendar of Rain, the ways observing common items around us can help elucidate important facts about our environment, and how we might better understand the concept of urban nature.