Atmospheric Inquiries Cicle. With Atractores Extraños, Lucia Rebolino and Abelardo Gil-Fournier

In a context where atmospheric changes have become increasingly unpredictable and radical, weather forecasting is facing a crisis. This scientific discipline is rooted in a desire for control and a certainty grounded in mathematical models and technological infrastructures. However, it must constantly contend with the intrinsic uncertainty of the highly dynamic nature of atmospheric systems. Chaos theory, proposed in 1963 by mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz, brings this dilemma into focus by examining dynamic systems, where small initial variations can evolve into ever-larger deviations. If the atmospheric system is chaotic, this theory represents a subtle heresy within a world still optimistic about the possibility of controlled climate manipulation.

This public program is the final event of Maia Gattás Vargas’ Atmospheric Inquiries residency in the framework of Medialab Matadero’s 2024-2025 Situated Research residency program.

Friday 27 June 2025. Aulario. Medialab Matadero

18:00h “Counter-Modeling the Weather Machine”
Seminar led by Lucía Rebolino, architect, computational designer and member of Forensic Architecture.

Free admission until full capacity is reached. Register here to ensure your participation. When places are filled by registration you will be able to access as a listener.

Saturday 27 June 2025 Nave Una, Medialab Matadero. Free entry until full capacity is reached

18:00h – The Image in the Background. The Background is Wind
Talk by Abelardo Gil-Fournier.

Abelardo Gil-Fournier  is an artist and researcher. His practice addresses the entwining of media and matter. His projects involve different techniques, spanning from installation to image, sound and computational processes where either the living or other so-called natural and planetary temporalities conflate with human visual cultures, knowledge systems and politics. His work has been exhibited and discussed internationally, including venues such as Transmediale (Berlin), Fundación Cerezales Antonino y Cinia (León), IKKM (Weimar), among others.

19:10h – Unpredictable Atmosphere
Talk by Lucía Rebolino

Lucia Rebolino is an architect and research-based computational designer weaving science and art into counter-cartography, data, and web-based aesthetics. She is a researcher at Forensic Architecture in London. Her work on weather and predictive models has been featured in e-flux and exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

20:15h – Strange Attractors: An Atmospheric Choir
Performative lecture by the Atmospheric Inquiries working group, directed by Maia Gattás Vargas and consisting of Rebeca Malcon, Oxel Urra Sánchez, Natalia Pilo-Pais, Silvia Hernándo, Fernando Maselli, Julián Guerrero, Stephanie Williams, Pablo Mois, Marta Iranzo, Alba Valladares, and Elena Buzuev.

The seven chapters of the visual lecture explore different eras and contexts related to atmospheric elements: historical letters that describe the shades of blue in the sky. An improvised lesson on the scientific taxonomy of clouds. The mathematical theory of chaos confronting us with the uncertainty of the unpredictability of the climate. A television program delving into last March rains in Madrid and the religious ceremonies for San Isidro, patron saint of Madrid. Suddenly, a wind blows, bringing haze from Africa…
Two scientists discuss experiments conducted with lightning and electricity. Finally, from a futuristic science fiction perspective, we find ourselves into an underground laboratory in Legazpi, where the uncanny “S Machine” operates, producing sound of atmospheric variables… All these voices forming a dissonant, atmospheric chorus.