On the Aesthetics of Environmental Data. The Work of Forensic Architecture between Forms of Reporting and Artistic Practice

Abstract

In the framework of theoretical analyses proposed by studies of the "geographies of the Anthropocene", attention is focused on the representation of territories in the convergences between media, technologies and digital cartography. This aesthetic approach finds favourable ground in protest movements which remain as yet unexamined in any depth. Among these, Forensic Architecture – the University of London's whistleblower research centre at Goldsmiths, founded in 2010 – stands out. Composed mainly of scientists, architects, journalists and filmmakers, the team carries out rigorous mapping of environmental data which focuses on imaging as a diagnostic practice, analysing the environmental situation, transforming the way in which data is visualised in civic practice through artistic and performative initiatives, and expanding the canonical boundaries of the fruition of forensic art. This paper aims to focus attention on the practices of Forensic Architecture, whose work is regularly shown in international art or architecture exhibitions, and its reuse of images which find form in denunciation and collective awareness. The article will also examine the audiovisual products documenting a decade of research in the territories of Palestine: "Counter-forensics in Palestine" (2012-2022).