News / St Pauls
St Paul’s community transforms local air quality data into music video
What if you could hear how polluted your area is?
Residents in St Paul’s have released a new song which turns a year’s worth of air quality data in the Ashley Ward area into sound.
Bristol Burning layers a drone noise over the music which represents the dangerous particulate (PM10) pollution that people in St Paul’s have to breathe in every day.
is needed now More than ever
A volume and filter on the drone was mapped by citizen scientists to gauge monthly average levels of these tiny particles, which are released by woodburning and traffic, using data from sensors around the Ashley Ward area.
Citizen scientists installed sensors in their homes to monitor air pollution levels – photo: KWMC
The data revealed eleven breaches of the World Health Organisation’s daily safe limits over a six-month period, revealing higher concentrations of poor air quality in the winter, especially on cold still days.
“In this track I turned air pollution data into a drone sound,” said artist and composer Miriam Quick.
“The louder the drone sound, the worse the air quality was that year.”
“The track represents people living in Ashley ward,” said Miriam. “Air pollution is getting in the way, stopping people from living their lives to the fullest.”
“I hope people will feel more engaged with the issue of air quality and the burden it places on us all and our bodies by listening to the track.”
The song was commissioned by Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC) and supported by Bristol City Council, as part of their Slow the Smoke project, which aims to highlight the level of air pollution in the Ashley Ward area.
Bristol Burning features vocals by hip-hop artist T. Relly, as well as samples from residents of the St Paul’s community, and the music video was created by filmmakers Rosana Warshawski and Esme Rose Warren.
Annali Grimes, creative director at KWMC said: “It is just heartbreaking that the most vulnerable in our communities, children, the elderly and those already facing a lot of difficulties in their lives, suffer the most.”
Bristol Burning has already featured on a Channel 4 News report about diesel vehicle pollution, alongside interviews with T. Relly and local schoolchildren.
Main photo: Bristol Burning, Knowle West Media Centre
Read next:
- Residents of busy road in Bristol say impact of clean air zone is ‘horrendous’
- ‘Reverse graffiti’ highlights Bristol’s air pollution crisis
- Student rubbish on historic street becoming ‘health hazard’, say residents
Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
