A Variability Quantifier

Liam Gillick’s process in building a functioning weather station for Fogo Island, Newfoundland as part of the World Weather Network.

In 2022 Liam Gillick installed A Variability Quantifier (The Fogo Island Red Weather Station) on Fogo Island, Newfoundland. An artwork intended to function as an operational weather station, it gathers local weather data and is a place for education, reflection, and discussion. The site and work are open and people are encouraged to visit. In 2023 Liam Gillick returned to Fogo to make a documentary film about his work and interview islanders on all aspects of how the climate emergency affects their lives. This book is a record of the documentary and includes a fully illustrated account of the working process and the discussions that took place. Not the first work that he has completed to address the issue, with earlier projects in Paris, Japan and Australia, Gillick is engaged in representing the science of the climate crisis. His project is to collect data to feed into the global system. As with earlier projects, it is the maths and science that he attempts to elevate.

Copublished by Fogo Island Arts and National Gallery of Canada.