Axionome a data-driven mural and light animation by Stanislava Pinchuk

8 Nov 2023

Conceptualised by Stanislava Pinchuk with creative direction by Broached Commissions, Axionome is a minimalist mural by day, and a gauge for Melbourne’s climate-change driven temperature deviation by night. It is the largest permanent artwork to date by the artist, who began her career in Melbourne before achieving international recognition for works that embed geopolitical data from migration, war, and climate catastrophe into paper works and minimalist sculpture. 

Located on the facade of 150 Lonsdale Street, formerly home to the Bureau of Meteorology, this artwork tracks escalating temperatures in Victoria each day, as we step closer to a 1.5 degree increase in global temperatures. Coded from temperature data measured in Melbourne’s CBD, the artwork reveals temperature deviation by automatically comparing the current day’s average to aligned weather data from the last 30 years. 

The artwork takes its inspiration from the movement of the sun and the moon, the oldest and most instinctive systems of human timekeeping. Two lights travel up and down the facade, gently animating the painted design in order to convey how each day’s temperature compares to historic climate data, which is shown on a scale from -1 to +3 degrees. The light show ends at midnight, resetting in anticipation of reflecting new climate data for the following day.

In October 2023, this work appears to be the only major public climate deviation tracker in the world. Axionome was commissioned by Charter Hall as part of Wesley Place, a new urban and commercial precinct located on Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.