Seeing Is
Believing
Lighted artwork reveals
invisible air pollution
in real time
[NOTE to art director: Layout headline, photos and sidebar copy and Greek-in a block of copy for the client to
write to finish this off. It is two pages.]
Earth Day — Saturday, April 22 — saw the
culmination of PARTICLE FALLS, a truly
dynamic public art display designed by
artist/scientist Andrea Polli and sponsored
by the North Carolina Clean Energy Tech-
nology Center, in conjunction with Growth
Energy and other organizations.
PARTICLE FALLS highlighted the invisible
dangers of air pollution in real time. Begin-
ning each evening at dusk from March 24
to April 22, an air-monitoring device and
specialized computer software guided a
waterfall-like projection of aqua-colored
vertical lines onto the five-story Empire
Properties Building in downtown Raleigh,
North Carolina.
As various forms of particle pollution — in-
visible to the human eye — came in touch
with the unique exhibit, the projection was
infused with brilliant specks of light. The
more dots and colors visible, the more
pollution in the air.
PARTICLE FALLS made it hard to ignore
how the fuels used to power our vehi-
cles impact our environment. The display
appeared much different when a diesel-
powered truck or gas-powered car drove
by, compared to a passing bicycle. In
addition, wind patterns generated unex-
pected real-time changes in the PARTICLE
FALLS display,