The Mona Bismarck American Center is pleased to announce its presentation of Particle Falls, an environmental light installation by American artist Andrea Polli, from 6 November to 13 December.

 

After San Jose, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Detroit in the United States, Particle Falls will be presented in Europe for the first time in Paris, during COP21, the United Nations conference on climate change (held from 30 November until 11 December 2015).

 

Particle Falls is a public art installation that displays a cascade of scintillating light onto the façade of the Mona Bismarck American Center, along the bank of the Seine in the 16th arrondissement.

 

Using CO2 sensors and synchronized lighting, Particle Falls is a visual representation of the air in the immediate environment. The installation physically changes in real time in relation to the amount of pollution particles it detects. Despite its aesthetic beauty, the installation has a more profound significance, raising awareness about the health of the air we breathe.

 

American artist Andrea Polli is an associate professor of Art & Ecology at the University of New Mexico. Polli’s creative process places itself at the crossroads of digital art, technology and science, and her practice includes media installation, public interventions, curating and directing art and community projects and writing.

 

 

The Mona Bismarck American Center serves as the preeminent showcase for 20th and 21st century American art and ideas in Paris and is the only institution dedicated to this purpose in France.

 

It honors the commitment of its American-born founder Mona Bismarck in providing a platform for American and French cross-cultural communication through the arts.