Stephen Bennett, Layers

Bangladesh, 44 x 31 x 27 cm, recycled greenhouse glass, enamel paint, 2021

Stephen’s starting point is how data increasingly penetrates our everyday lives whilst remaining abstract, vast, disembodied and unknowing. This, combined with globalisation and the growing complexity of society, is contributing to citizens feeling dislocated from public decision-making. Stephen’s response is to seek out information from online sources and then materialise it in analogue, organic and sensorially diverse ways. By making scientific evidence something that can be visualised, touched and played with, he aims to empower people to explore and use it. 'Layers, Bangladesh' aims to bring a data-infused lens to climate justice considering the vulnerability of poorer countries. He uses recycled greenhouse glass that has been baked by the sun and frozen by the cold over countless seasons, with data layers covering sea level, rainfall, economic and population information. Stephen is a multimedia artist and co-Head of the UK’s Policy Lab, exploring the intersection of art, science and policy.

Website: www.srgbennett.com 
Instagram & Twitter: srgbennett