Oakland Exhibit Uses Data-Based Art to Educate Students on Super El Niño's Local Impacts
An art exhibit in Oakland, titled “The Data at Hand: Data Physicalizations of Earth and Space,” is being utilized by professors to teach students about the effects of a “Super” El Niño. Forecasters predict this year’s El Niño could be the strongest on record since 1950, with a 75% chance of reaching this intensity, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This strong El Niño is expected to cause higher sea levels, coastal flooding, and torrential rain along parts of the western U.S. coast, particularly impacting the San Francisco Bay Area. Kristina Faul, a professor of earth and ocean sciences, plans to take her students to the exhibit to combine artwork with real-world case studies of the incoming El Niño. The exhibit features works like “Touching Toxicity” by artists Amanda Ugorji and Sophie Weston Chien, which uses tufted cotton to depict Bay Area locations near contaminated groundwater sites, highlighting how rising sea levels can push these toxins closer to the surface.
