Revisiting the Wrath of Sandy through Art

As the seventh anniversary of Superstorm Sandy approached, a UCI-supported exhibition at Monmouth University captured the destructive force of the storm and the mounting threats of climate change and sea level rise through abstract works of art. Just Beachy/After Sandy featured the work of Department of Art and Design Professor Karen Bright and Assistant Professor of Communication Amanda Stojanov.

One of the exhibition’s highlights was a series of beach towel designs that interpreted a century of scientific data for natural phenomena such as high tide levels, wave heights and wind speeds on the Jersey Shore. A-10-feet high infographic sculpture (“The Transformer”) visualized the massive number of housing units lost, and visitors could step into geodesic-domed shelter to hear and view a digital media interpretation of the storm. Hundreds of residents who were impacted by Sandy also contributed to the installation by sharing their memories on a special wall adorned with satellite imagery of the storm.

NOAA Deputy Administrator Timothy Gallaudet tours Professor Karen Bright’s Just Beachy/After Sandy exhibition. Bright presented Gallaudet with prints of her designs from the “The Drying Station” (seen above and at right) to be displayed at NOAA headquarters. The works visualized a century of NOAA oceanography data in the form of beach towels and were created with the support of a UCI grant.

“THE HOPE IS THAT BY BRINGING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER [THROUGH THE EXHIBITION], PEOPLE WILL FIND PERSONAL RELIEF THROUGH SHARED EXPERIENCE.”

—PROFESSOR KAREN BRIGHT