Chapter 2 Exploring Environmental Stewardship Through Data-Driven Practices Tega Brain and Jodi Newcombe Abstract What potential do artists working with environmental data in public space have for producing new forms of engagement with local environmental conditions? Operating on the edge of heavy bureaucracy, these types of data-driven artistic experiments probe the politics of environmental metrics and explore methods of engaging audiences with issues of environmental health. This discussion considers a small collection of cases studies representative of this growing field of practice. These are works by Natalie Jeremijenko and The Living, Tega Brain and Keith Deverell. The case studies considered are examples of strategic design, works that soften, reveal and potentially shift existing regulations and bureaucratic norms. In doing so they open up new possibilities and questions as to what the smart city is and how it might be realised. Introduction Public artworks that engage and perform environmental data in urban space construct and disseminate representations of local environmental conditions that usually escape quotidian perception. They materialise practices that seek a public engagement with environmental informational layers and material urban conditions. Operating on the edge of heavy bureaucracy, these experiments not only probe the politics of environmental metrics and explore methods of engaging audiences with issues of environmental health, but their productions also reveal the complexities of governance and cultural norms. The projects and practices discussed in this paper have been gathered from Jodi Newcombe’s experiences as director and founder of the Australian curatorial T. Brain () Purchase College, State University of New York, New York, NY, USA e-mail: tega.brain@gmail.com J. Newcombe Carbon Arts, industry Partner with the Centre for Art Society and Transformation, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia School of Design, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia e-mail: jodi@carbonarts.org © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 F.T. Marchese (ed.), Media Art and the Urban Environment, Future City 5, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-15153-3_2 47