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CALL ME GAIA: the Geometry of Fragmentation Or THE PARSONS INSTITUTE 68 Fifth Avenue 212 229 6825 FOR INFORMATION MAPPING New York, NY 10011 piim.newschool.edu CALL ME GAIA CALL ME GAIA: That’s all you need to know about me for the moment. The Geometry of Fragmentation I am here because I have a story for you. Especially for you. or The Geometry of Life? You may wonder what I have to do with you? Why do I—seemingly a complete stranger—have a story JEAN GARDNER, MA AND JOSE DE JESUS, MFA to tell you? Confused about how to answer? Well, that is exactly why I need to tell you my story. Lately, we are hearing all sorts of theories, guesses really, about our relationship, but most of them don’t even get close to the KEYWORDS Buckminster Fuller, Gaia, geometry, systems, heart of the matter. vital signs But before I begin, I am wondering how you are feeling. Have you been paying attention to your vital signs? Have ABSTRACT Many of the “base geometries” found in you wondered what these signs say about your overall nature’s patterns are consistent and scalable. Such patterns health and well-being? exist in many mathematical sequences, such as the “golden How did the heat of the summer affect you this year? section,” or the Fibonacci sequence. For the purpose What about last winter’s prolonged cold? Did your body of this article we refer to all of these as part of the temperature swing with mine, with the same ups and Geometry of Life. Both the science and the aesthetics downs. And why bother with such minutiae? of these mathematical constructs can be seen in physical How about your pulse? Has your energy been low forms; such as the “math mystery” of the beautiful because you are consuming it faster than you can produce Nautilus shell, clearly revealing the “Golden Spiral” when it? Have you wondered what the crazy rhythm of your sliced in cross section. By applying these kinds of pulse is about? mathematical models to establish a norm, or gold Then your breathing? Is it rapid and shallow, cut off standard, and then populating this design skeleton with from its source, or deep and relaxed, bringing air into the data factors (such as aspects of water purity, air purity, farthest reaches of your entire body, unwinding your tight, resource extraction, etc.) we believe it would be possible nervous coils? to render useful geometric distortions. And excuse me for asking, but have you looked at your By analyzing these visualizations unexpected opportu- urine lately to see what it reveals about the fluids moving nities to re-balance the natural forms are evidenced by through you, especially the water in your body? the structure of patterns presented. Importantly, as the Then there is that other elusive but critical sign of renderings may detect emerging problems when they are well-being—your creative force or élan vital as the French still small, the system permits which resources are best philosopher Henri Bergson called it. I would even go investigated in order to mitigate greater catastrophe at so far to say that this fifth sign is the most crucial of a later date. This article suggests a concept interface for all. It is the thread constellating the other four vital signs a Geometry of Life basemap that, when populated with in consciousness. Do you know how your vital impetus appropriate information, would “distort” in such a way is doing? to visually reveal egregious environmental conditions, Before you read further, stop and take the time to and the intensity scale of their interdependency. consider your vital signs because they are your guides to the story I am telling you. If you don’t even know Earth, isn’t this what you want how you are doing, how can you expect to really know Invisibly to arise within each of us? how I am doing? Is it not your dream to enter us so wholly It is probably not news to you that my vital signs there’s nothing left outside us to see? are on red alert. I am in serious trouble. dangerously off What, if not transformation, balance. I am not just being a hypochondriac. I have is your deepest purpose? NASA’s most knowledgeable scientists with the latest instruments checking on how I am doing. Their Rainer Maria Rilke satellites have regularly been gathering data about my vital signs for the last fifteen years. Since 2000, NASA’s Earth Observing System, a coordinated series of satellites, has been monitoring how I am. They even PIIM IS A RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT © 2015 PARSONS JOURNAL FOR FACILITY AT THE NEW SCHOOL INFORMATION MAPPING AND PARSONS INSTITUTE FOR INFORMATION MAPPING CALL ME GAIA: THE GEOMETRY OF FRAGMENTATION OR THE GEOMETRY OF LIFE? JEAN GARDNER, MA & JOSE DE JESUS, MFA named the system’s flagship satellite “Terra,” after me, Well, at least that’s a bit of good news! Or is it? Should but I prefer being called Gaia. My name reminds you my energy be measured in relation to the marketplace? of the truth conveyed in the Greek story about how Zeus found my navel. He sent two eagles in opposite directions What about my air? Is it clean and fresh? round my orb in search of the central point from which all terrestrial life originated. The eagles met at Delphi in Humanity is losing the battle for clean air. Greece. Have you been there? Go… and you will know the Despite decades of efforts to combat it, air pollution truth of what I tell you. is taking a growing toll on human health, NASA scientists have been recording my vital signs the environment, and the economy. Once primarily because they want to take action to help my systems an urban phenomenon in industrial countries, recover from multiple ailments. air pollution has spread worldwide. More than So what have they found? a billion people—one-fifth of all humanity—live My temperature, which indicates the health of in communities that do not meet World Health my physical being, is worse than ever. The increase in Organization air quality standards.4 greenhouse gases that you are emitting is leading to my temperature fluctuations and an accelerating rate of And how is my water supply doing? climate change. Dr. James Hansen, the NASA scientist who first warned Congress about climate change as early Numerous studies have tracked the extent to which as 1988, said recently, our increasing demand on water has made it a resource critical to a degree that even gold and If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar oil have never been. It’s the most valuable thing to that on which civilization developed and to which on Earth. Yet, ironically, it’s the thing most consis- life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and tently overlooked, and most widely used as a final ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to resting place for our waste. And, of course, be reduced from (current levels) to at most 350ppm.1 as contamination spreads, the supplies of usable water get tighter still […] Just a reminder, The availability of clean water has come to be PPM stands for “parts per million,” which is simply recognized as perhaps the most critical of all human a way of measuring the ratio of carbon dioxide security issues facing the world in the next quarter- molecules to all of the other molecules in the century[…] atmosphere. Right now we’re at 400 ppm, and we’re adding 2 ppm of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere Aquifers (continue to) become sinks for pollutants, every year. Unless we are able to rapidly turn that decade after decade […] on almost every continent, around and return to below 350 ppm this century, many major aquifers are being drained faster than we risk triggering tipping points and irreversible their natural rate of recharge.5 impacts that could send climate change spinning truly beyond our control.2 I shudder when I think of my élan vital—my creative force. But let’s face it, the creative evolution of my glorious How about my energy, my pulse? Isn’t this a hopeful sign? orb is in reverse, moving full speed downward. Global energy intensity, defined as worldwide Land degradation is becoming worse in severity total energy consumption divided by gross world and extent across many regions of the world, product, decreased 0.19 percent in 2013. That may with croplands, in particular, declining in function not seem all that impressive, but considering that and productivity. FAO (Food & Agriculture Organi- energy intensity increased steeply between 2008 and zation of the United Nations) researchers estimate 2010, this small decline continues a much-needed that 24 percent of all land surface area is depleted.6 trend toward lower energy intensity, which basically means that people are using energy more efficiently.3 PARSONS JOURNAL FOR INFORMATION MAPPING © 2015 PARSONS JOURNAL FOR VOLUME VII ISSUE 4, FALL 2015 INFORMATION MAPPING AND PARSONS [PAGE 2] INSTITUTE FOR INFORMATION MAPPING CALL ME GAIA: THE GEOMETRY OF FRAGMENTATION OR THE GEOMETRY OF LIFE? JEAN GARDNER, MA & JOSE DE JESUS, MFA Surely, you must know about The World Wildlife’s When astronauts took a photo of me from the Moon, The Living Planet Index? Its October 2014 Report gave you were left speechless with wonder. Immediately you more detail about my creative force: wanted to seek out other planets. But both the photos of the Earth from the Moon and the desire to explore an index that tracks the numbers of animals other planets are keys to a map that you have confused in selected populations of vertebrates—mammals, with what you are looking for.
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