Sky River is an expanded animation that imagines a future where climate change has radically transformed our landscape and the collateral damage that humans have caused to the hydrological cycle, and brings about a reflection that humans are not outsiders to nature.
In 2015, a team of hydroscience engineers from Tsinghua and Qinghai University proposed a new concept of atmospheric water—white water, an atmospheric collision where water vapours become rain. As a result, the Sky River project was born. It was conceived to be a massive geoengineering project that will identify and extract atmospheric water using satellite tracking and cloud seeding technologies. Sky River imagines a future where climate change has radically transformed our landscape and the collateral damage it caused to the hydrological cycle.
The narrative of the Sky River project is presented from a dual perspective that bridges time: a male voice represents the present, while a female voice embodies the future. This narrative oscillates between today and tomorrow, illustrating a future overwhelmed by increased precipitation due to global warming and rising sea levels. As seawater encroaches on land, compromising water security, humanity is compelled to look upwards in search of fresh water sources in the atmosphere.
The project is brought to life through an immersive animated experience that merges 3D animation with physical installations, extending the storytelling beyond the confines of the screen and into the real world. Viewers follow the journey of the protagonists through a desolate landscape marked by an abandoned cloud-seeding tower, traveling from the ocean's depths to the atmospheric rivers above. The animation culminates in darkness, followed by a haze machine and laser line that illuminate the space. The atmospheric creates a screen-space continuum, providing a tangible representation of the Sky River. This artistic choice invites the audience to contemplate and visually engage with the abstract concept of atmospheric water extraction in the era of the Anthropocene.
