Data, Weather, and Emotion

How do environmental conditions and the observer’s emotional state influence the perception and interpretation of a repeatedly photographed subject? 

How can computational tools and data visualisation assist in interpreting large sets of observational data generated through artistic practice? 

Over the course of one year, I conducted a systematic observational study centred on a single object: the Danger Soft Mud warning sign located in a coastal environment. The project was designed as a longitudinal, practice-based investigation combining photographic documentation, environmental observation, subjective reflection, and computational analysis.

Methodological Procedure

Methodologically, the research followed a structured sequence of observational and analytical steps.

1. Fixed-Point Photographic Observation

Each morning for one year, I photographed the sign from approximately the same physical position and orientation. The camera framing, viewpoint, and distance were kept as consistent as possible in order to reduce compositional variability. This fixed-point methodology allowed temporal variation, such as changes in light, weather conditions, seasonal shifts, and surface transformations of the environment, to become the primary variables within the visual dataset.

The aim of this procedure was to isolate time-dependent phenomena while maintaining spatial stability within the image series.

2. Daily Environmental Recording

Immediately after taking each photograph, I recorded the observable weather conditions. These included general atmospheric descriptors such as cloud cover, precipitation, fog, sunlight intensity, and other noticeable environmental characteristics. This step generated a contextual environmental dataset that accompanied the photographic archive.

3. Subjective Phenomenological Logging

In addition to environmental observations, I documented my emotional and psychological state during each encounter with the site. This entry was recorded as a short descriptive note reflecting the affective response produced by the interaction between the object, the landscape, and the atmospheric conditions. The inclusion of this phenomenological dimension was intended to acknowledge that perception is not purely objective but is shaped by the observer’s internal state.

Thus, the dataset incorporated both objective environmental parameters and subjective experiential responses.

4. Data Structuring and Database Construction

All collected information, photographs, dates, environmental observations, and emotional annotations were organised into a structured database. Each entry corresponded to a single day of observation, forming a chronological dataset covering an entire annual cycle.

This database structure enabled the project to be treated not only as an artistic archive but also as a dataset suitable for computational processing.

5. Computational Analysis and Visualisation

To analyse the collected material, I wrote a Python program and executed it in a Jupyter Notebook environment. The script accessed the database and generated visual representations of the recorded information. These visualisations mapped relationships between time, environmental conditions, and emotional states.

The purpose of this computational step was methodological: transforming the raw observational dataset into graphical representations that allow human observers to detect patterns, correlations, and temporal structures that may not be immediately visible within textual records or image sequences alone.

6. Video Documentation of the Research Process

The short video associated with the project documents the entire methodological trajectory: the repetitive act of daily photographic recording, the accumulation of environmental and phenomenological data, and the computational visualisation of the resulting dataset.

In this sense, the video functions not merely as documentation but as a condensed representation of the research methodology itself.

Conceptual Context

Within the broader framework of my research on the instability of the present moment, this project investigates how repeated observation transforms the perception of time. Although each photograph appears to capture a discrete “present” moment, the year-long dataset demonstrates that the present cannot be isolated as a stable temporal unit. Instead, it emerges as a sequence of traces shaped by environmental variability, subjective perception, and retrospective interpretation.

Through the integration of artistic practice, systematic observation, and computational analysis, the project positions photography as both a temporal recording instrument and an experimental research method.

How can the visualisation of recorded emotional states help interpret the subjective dimension of a long-term photographic observation project?

The infographic visualising emotional states translates the daily phenomenological notes recorded during the photographic observations into a structured visual representation. Over the course of the year, each photographic event was accompanied by a brief reflection describing the emotional atmosphere experienced at the moment of observation. These subjective records formed a qualitative dataset that reflects the affective interaction between the observer, the environment, and the observed object.

Through visualisation, these emotional annotations are transformed into a graphical structure that reveals patterns, fluctuations, and recurring tendencies across the temporal duration of the project. Rather than remaining isolated textual notes, the emotional states become part of a visual field where temporal rhythms and variations can be perceived collectively.

Within the framework of practice-based research, this infographic therefore functions as an interpretative tool. It demonstrates how subjective perception is not external to the research process but actively participates in shaping the observational experience. The visualisation makes visible the otherwise implicit emotional dimension of the artistic practice, highlighting the relationship between environmental context and affective response over time.

How can the visualisation of recorded weather conditions contribute to understanding environmental variability within a year-long photographic observation?

The second infographic presents a visual representation of the recorded weather conditions documented during the daily photographic sessions. Throughout the project, environmental characteristics such as cloud cover, precipitation, sunlight intensity, and atmospheric visibility were systematically noted alongside the photographs.

By transforming these observations into a visual infographic, the environmental dataset becomes readable as a temporal structure rather than a collection of isolated daily notes. The visualisation allows patterns of seasonal change, atmospheric variability, and environmental repetition to emerge across the duration of the project.

Within the context of the Danger Soft Mud research, the weather visualisation serves as an analytical bridge between the photographic archive and the environmental conditions under which the images were produced. It demonstrates that the appearance of the photographed object is not static but continuously influenced by fluctuating natural conditions.

In practice-based artistic research, such visualisation tools extend the interpretative possibilities of the dataset. They enable the researcher and the viewer to perceive environmental patterns that remain difficult to recognise within textual records or individual images. The infographic therefore functions both as a research instrument and as a visual translation of the environmental dynamics that shaped the photographic observations.

Can a short documentary film function simultaneously as documentation and interpretation of an artistic research process? 

How can AI-generated narration function as an explanatory layer within a documentary representation of an art research project? 

The short documentary film functions as both documentation and interpretation of the Danger Soft Mud artistic research project. Over the course of one year, the project involved the daily photographic observation of a single coastal warning sign from a fixed position. The film records this repetitive methodological procedure and therefore provides visual documentation of the empirical process behind the research. By showing the act of photographing, the environmental setting, and the temporal rhythm of the daily observations, the film reveals the practical structure of the long-term investigation.

At the same time, the documentary does not operate as neutral documentation alone. Through the temporal structure of the moving image and the editing of repeated actions, it interprets the research process by emphasising patterns of repetition, duration, and routine that define the project. The moving image medium allows the procedural dimension of the work to become visible in a way that individual photographs or datasets cannot fully communicate. In this sense, the film represents the methodological practice itself as a temporal phenomenon.

An AI-generated podcast-style narration accompanies the visual material and functions as an explanatory layer within the film. The narration contextualises the images by describing the conceptual aims and methodological steps of the research, including the daily photographic observations, the recording of weather conditions and emotional states, the construction of a structured database, and the subsequent computational analysis and visualisation of the collected data. By articulating these elements verbally, the narration guides the viewer through the conceptual and procedural framework of the project.

The use of AI-generated narration also reflects the technological dimension of the research process. Just as computational tools were used to analyse and visualise the dataset, the synthetic voice introduces a digital interpretative layer that mediates between the visual documentation and the viewer’s understanding. As a result, the five-minute documentary film itself becomes the answer to the research questions: it simultaneously documents the methodological practice of the project and interprets it through audiovisual narration, allowing the audience to perceive the artistic research process as a structured temporal investigation.