2024

Rivers in the Sky,
Clouds Down Below

Science(and)Fiction

Film Interactive, Textile

FILM STILLS

ABOUT

“Rivers in the Sky, Clouds Down Below” is a science(and)fiction film that combines insight from micro-fluids research, climate science, indigenous languages and cultural epistemologies. Drawing inspiration from the groundbreaking research on ice-nucleation at the MIT Microfluids Lab, the film entangles the professional and personal life of Ragini, a fictional research scientist. Grounded in non-fiction interviews with scientists, this film speculates the potential geo-political and environmental implications of triggering rain via this research. This project advocates for a pluriversal perspective and a dissolution of epistemic silos. The film is accompanied by a textile map and an interactive experience.

SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION

This project draws inspiration from the innovative research conducted by Albert Verdaguer (Visiting Scientist, Mech.E., MIT) and Isaac Jackiw (Postdoctoral Researcher, Mech.E., MIT) at the Hatsopoulos Microfluids Laboratory (HML). Their groundbreaking work focuses on the phenomenon of ice-nucleation within air-suspended water droplets. The potential of this ice-nucleation research is immense as it can trigger the formation of rain.

This creates a rich avenue for speculation.

INTERVIEWS

COSMOLOGICAL MAP

COUNTERMAPPING CONCEPTS

INTERACTIVE NON-LINEAR SURROUND SOUND EXPERIENCE

CONTEXT:

This film was made during the course MAS.S66 - City Sci-fi: Speculative Movie Making Towards the Design of Ecology Futures (MIT Media Lab City Science Group) with the help of MIT's Hatsopoulos Microfluids Laboratory (HML) (Mech.E. Department) and the Seven Stars Bookstore in Cambridge. It further draws insights from my engagement as a teaching assistant for the course 4.328 / 4.329 Climate Visions (MIT Art, Culture and Technology Program) as well as prior engagement as a research assistant on the Worlding project (MIT Open Doc Lab).

MRINALINI SINGHA