How can environmental pollution become tangible through situated design—using materials as narrative tools to unravel complex systems and the ways knowledge is transmitted through them? This question formed the starting point of ON AIR: Nitrogen, a masterclass hosted by researcher Annemarie Piscaer from CARADT and PhD candidate at LUCA School of Arts. The programme took place at Jester in Genk and was presented within the context of the conference Uncommoning Matter: Critical Perspectives on New Materialisms.
The masterclass was developed as part of Piscaer’s ongoing research project Aerial and Airing: A Situated Design Approach – Mapping Environmental Data through Material. Starting from the theme of nitrogen and biodiversity, students mapped out nitrogen dynamics in the Hoge Kempen: which plants come to dominate landscapes disturbed by nitrogen oxides and ammonia, and how can this be made tangible in design projects.
Situated within the context of C-mine in Genk, the programme highlighted an air-ecological paradox shaped by histories of extraction and ideas of “clean air.” While the former mining site still carries traces of coal dust and industrial toxicity, the nearby history of the Kneipp sanatorium in Bokrijk reflects another narrative in which landscape and air are associated with healing and regeneration.
Today, the region faces a different environmental challenge: nitrogen pollution. Although nitrogen is essential for plant growth, excessive emissions, particularly ammonia from livestock manure and fertilizers, contribute to soil acidification and eutrophication. This process favours fast-growing species such as nettles, gradually transforming biodiverse habitats like the heathlands of the Hoge Kempen.
The programme combined a situated field trip through the landscape with a ranger, an artist talk and mini-symposium, and hands-on material experimentation. Students gathered plants and materials directly from their surroundings and translated these into research-driven design projects.
Central to the programme was the concept of “airing”: making issues public, voicing concerns and opening up dialogue through design and material practice. ON AIR: Nitrogen approached material not as passive matter, but as an active carrier of ecological, cultural and environmental stories.
The artist talk brought together perspectives from art, ecology, design and research, with contributions by Delfina Fantini van Ditmar (CARADT), Pieter Veen (Rewilding Materials, HOGENT), Maia Kenney (Jester) and Kristof Vrancken (LUCA C-mine).
The results of the masterclass were later presented in the paper Airing Matter: Materializing Nitrogen through Situated Design Approach and the lens of New Materialism during the conference Uncommoning Matter: Critical Perspectives on New Materialisms in Leuven (21–22 May). The conference explored how aesthetic practices engage with contemporary ecological, political and epistemological challenges through new materialist perspectives.
‘Humans are atmospheric beings, particles, dust, in intimate cycles of exchange, actors with an incredible force.’
‘We need to become attuned actors with a deeper understanding of all the other particles.’
Annemarie Piscaer is a researcher in the Situated Art, Design and Technology research group, tutor on the New Design & Attitudes study programme at St. Joost School of Art & Design, and PhD candidate in the Doctoral Program at KU Leuven.
Living in cities developed around data and acting within the inscrutable structure of our techno-society demands art and design that can help understand how we relate to these rapidly changing surroundings and to reflect on that relationship. The research group Situated Art, Design and Technology responds to this exigency by fostering a situated turn in art and design through a diverse portfolio of interdisciplinary research projects in partnership with academic and cultural partners, as well as with government and industry.
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