What if a disappearing ecosystem could speak?
RISORGIVA – Endangered Ecosystems is an multilayered project dedicated to the Schiavetti Biotope, a fragile freshwater wetland located between Monfalcone and Staranzano, in the northern Adriatic region. Like wetlands worldwide, this unique ecosystem is increasingly threatened by sea level rise, biodiversity loss, and climate change.
Bringing together students, scientists, artists, educators, and filmmakers, the project explored the wetland through field research, audiovisual documentation, environmental monitoring, and participatory workshops. Data, photographs, sounds, videos, and community reflections were collected and transformed into a collective archive of the present.
The outcomes of this research were presented through an immersive artscience exhibition inside the Municipality of Staranzano, temporarily transforming a civic space into a platform where the voice of the wetland could be heard. Conceived as a message from the ecosystem itself, RISORGIVA invited visitors to reflect on the value of endangered wetlands and their role in our collective future.
The materials gathered during the project were eventually sealed inside a time capsule to be reopened in 2050, creating a dialogue between the landscape of today and the uncertain futures to come.
LABORATORIES
Chemical-physical analysis
of water and soil
Through field-based laboratories, students investigated the ecological health of the Schiavetti Biotope by collecting and analyzing water and soil samples. Measuring parameters such as temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and nitrate/nitrite concentrations allowed them to better understand the environmental conditions that sustain wetland biodiversity. Combining scientific methods with hands-on experience, the activity fostered both ecological awareness and a deeper understanding of the importance of monitoring and protecting fragile ecosystems.
MICROSCOPY
Classification of macroinvertebrates
Benthic macro invertebrates are invertebrate organisms, visible to the naked eye, that live in close contact with the seabed. For the most part, they are aquatic larvae of insects, crustaceans, molluscs etc. They are studied because they are excellent bioindicators that give information on the health of the ecosystem. The greater the biodiversity, i.e. the number of species of macro invertebrates, the better the quality of the ecosystem studied.
SONIFICATION
The workshop of the artist Miha Godec, designed for this work on the Schiavetti biotope, consists of correlating the previously collected data of humidity, conductivity and TDS (total dissolved solids) into sounds, thanks to a modular synthesizer connected to appropriate sensors. An artistic approach that uses scientific data to generate sounds. In this way, the students were able to measure themselves with an alternative way of reading the same scientific data: from numbers and units of measurement to sound waves at different tones.
SOUND FISHING
Listening the enviroment
In this workshop we talk about the physics of sound and its transmission in different materials such as air, water, wood, metal. Accompanying the physics teacher three musicians, sound artisans and field recording experts. Organic Audio (Andrea Peluso, Emanuele Pertoldi and Camilla Isola) introduce participants to the binaural recording method, and to the use of various microphones, including some self-built ones that can be placed underwater. In particular, the acoustic effects near the backflow of spring water are studied. In order to make a more complete environmental recording and thus be able to listen to the most remote and hidden places of the Schiavetti biotope, canoes are used to move through the multiple water channels that make up the morphology of the biotope.
DELTA T
In search of mirages to reflect on the delicate balance between ecosystems.
With Michele Libralato, PhD in Energy and Environmental Engineering Sciences at University of Udine.
Using a thermal camera, we explored the delicate thermal balance of this ecosystem, visualizing in real time the continuous exchange of energy between bodies of different nature, and the emissions of infrared (IR) rays.
At the core of the changes altering the balance of our planet lies temperature: fluctuations of just a few degrees Celsius in the Earth’s average temperature can disrupt our relationship with natural elements and other living species, our way of living, and our mindset tied to the illusory certainty of unlimited growth. Even a minimal alteration of this balance can cause serious damage to sensitive ecosystems: just consider our own body, an ecosystem that needs only a 1°C increase to enter a feverish state.
Videomaking
A participatory experience
Throughout the project, all workshops and field activities were documented by a group of young videomakers from the ISIS BEM Institute. Guided by filmmaker Filippo Gobbato (Piccolo Cinema Onirico), the students were introduced to the fundamentals of cinematography, documentary filmmaking, and video art, learning how to observe, record, and narrate scientific research through audiovisual language. Their work became an integral part of RISORGIVA, transforming documentation into a creative process and allowing students to actively contribute to communicating the value and vulnerability of the Schiavetti Biotope.
X-mobil
xMobil is an autonomous, solar-powered art-science lab in the form of a standard car trailer, developed by a motley crew of hackers, students, makers, engineers, artists and scientists alike. An official project of the Go!2025 European Capital of Culture Nova Gorica – Gorizia, it was launched in the summer of 2022, appearing since then at several festivals, public spots and off road.
With a robust solar electric system of 8KW/h, as well as its modular interior, it is geared for collaborative work either in remote locations or in public space. While it may also serve as a mere presentation platform/device, the modular car trailer provides durable yet affordable equipment for AV/ICT/DIY production and experimentation in art-science- technology projects, including eco+natural investigation (eg. citizen science), field sociology, visual anthropology etc.
The exhibition
The whole experience was represented inside the municipality building of staranzano
Exhibited ARTworks
MURMUI
3D sound sculpture (listen here)
Field recordings: Organic Audio (Camilla Isola, Emanuele Pertoldi, Andrea Peluso) with students
Sound design: Emanuele Pertoldi, Camilla Isola, Andrea Peluso, Mauricio Valdés San Emeterio
3D sound developed in HEKA – Arts and Science Lab held by PiNA, Koper (Slo)
”At the center of the council chamber, a man-made structure serves as a medium to convey the voice of the “Schiavetti” biotope through 20 speakers 3D sound system. Around it, empty chairs symbolize the opportunity for us, humans, to listen to what Nature has to tell us. The microphones on the round tables are directed towards the structure in the center, suggesting a reversal of roles: those who usually speak must now listen attentively.”
Francesco Scarel
EX NIHILO
Miha Godec, installation
Tehnical asistance: Gregor Krpic, Alen Smolic, David Drolc
Technology: Arduino microcontroller, stepper motors and 3d printing
Production: Artevida
Coproduction: City Art Gallery Ljubljana,
Support: PIFcamp, Kersnikova Institute and Ministry of Culture Slovenia, Year: 2022
The installation, inspired by the Latin phrase “ex nihilo,” meaning “out of nothing,” immerses participants in a soundscape where bubbles and whispers emerge from silence, shaping a sonic universe that is reminiscent of the phenomenon of resurgences found on Schiavetti biotope.
Water is the central medium, offering a unique perspective on bubbles’ dynamics and their impact on human psyche. Unique sound vessels controlled by a microcontroller, designed from English pottery and Peruvian water instrument traditions, encapsulate air and produce captivating sounds when tilted. The installation’s interactive sound component adjusts based on the volume of sound in the room: if the noise in the room exceeds a certain level, it is programmed to pause its operation, effectively becoming “frightened” by the excessive loudness.
This project invites a deeper contemplation of existence, urging viewers to attune to the invisible forces shaping our world, thus broadening the aesthetic experience and understanding of our being.
Common Aliens
Mattia Cuttini, video loop 2024
Humans are like any other natural or artificial element when observed for their physical properties.
Images collected during Delta T laboratory together with Michele Libralato, PhD in Energy and Environmental Engineering Sciences at University of Udine.
The Burial
DATA for the future
A burial ceremony of the Time Capsule was organized in the garden of the BEM Institute in Staranzano.
Students sealed the steel container, previously filled with photographs, texts, videos on USB drives, some slides of the biotope from the 1990s provided by Legambiente, and scientific data on the water they collected from the Schiavetti biotope.
The opening date is set for May 2050, a year identified by the IPCC as crucial for measuring our efforts in tackling climate change.
“We, as humanity, are similar to stalagmites: we are immobile and live off water and resources that Nature gives to us, taking them for granted.
Today, however, we can no longer afford to stand still and wait for resources to keep raining down on us. We must learn to move and take action if we want to save our Planet.”
Gaetano Vicedomini, student of 2nd CM of BEM 2024
CREDITS
A project by
Liminal Research ETS
With the support of
Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia
Festival dell’Acqua di Staranzano
Art Director
Francesco Scarel
Curators
Francesco Scarel
Mattia Cuttini
Artscience laboratories at biotopo “Schiavetti”:
Xmobil – European Capital of Culture Nova Gorica – Gorizia, GO! 2025
Xcenter – Nova Gorica
Mojca Stubelj Ars, Xcenter
Peter Purg, Associate Professor of New Media Art at School of Arts and dean of School of Humanities at University of Nova Gorica
Uroš Luin (solar system / CEZETE.si)
Matej Vidmar Xcenter technician/coordinator
Miha Godec, multimedia artist
Organic Audio (Camilla Isola, Emanuele Pertodi, Andrea Peluso), field recording
Michele Libralato, researcher at Università di Udine
Mattia Cuttini, multimedia artist
Francesco Scarel, science communicator / artscience curator
Filippo Gobbato, filmmaker / video artist
For ISIS BEM di Staranzano:
Project manager: Monica Sclaunich
Professors: Silvia Rivenotto, Lucia Trevisan, Cristina Chiandussi, Maurizio Platania
Students of BEM Institute
With the participation of:
CeVI Centro di Volontariato Internazionale in Udine, project Green it Up – Green Agents (AID 012618/03/7)
Mauricio Valdés San Emeterio, curator and responsible of sound R&D at HEKA Arts and Science Lab in Koper
PiNA, Koper
Associazione Area di Ricerca – Dobialab
Special thanx to:
Sandro Pivotti
Elisabetta Tola
TS Contemporanea
Daniel Rossato, Nicolò Morina, Andrea Calignano (video editing assistants)