Imagine being able to influence the weather merely by quickening your steps, lifting an arm or spinning around.
Attendees of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos can do that — conceptually, at least — when they interact with “Human Atmospheres,” a generative art installation that combines real-time local weather data with human motion as a reflection on our relationship with the environment. The result is a rich visual swirl of colors and shapes that looks like a dynamic impressionist painting.
“Within the space, movement becomes meteorology, each gesture a breeze, each pause a clearing sky,” reads a description of the piece by its creator Ronen Tanchum, an artist who often employs AI, robotics and real-time algorithms to explore the connection between humanity, technology and nature.
Slow steps draw drifting clouds, while a pause might cause the sky to clear. Sudden, more assertive gestures summon storms and shift light. With no human movement present, the system returns to being driven solely by weather.
“At its core, the work treats climate not as a backdrop, but as a shared system,” Tanchum said in an interview. “It asks how awareness itself alters what we observe, and how even minimal presence can shift complex environments. It is less about spectacle, and more about responsibility and attention.”
This week’s gathering in Switzerland, which ends Friday, marks the debut of “Human Atmospheres,” which is on display as part of an arts and culture program at Davos called At the Edge of Change. Tanchum describes the work as an emotional mirror of our climate and the presence we project into it.
Live weather data feeds directly into the system, driving the behavior of wind, clouds, light, color and atmospheric density. Spatial sensors track the proximity of viewers, as well as the speed and configuration of their movements. Those inputs are interpreted by an AI-driven, agent-based logic layer rather than simple triggers.
“The goal is not interaction as control, but interaction as influence,” Tanchum said. “Presence leaves a trace, then fades.”
Tanchum is the founder of Phenomena Labs, a creative studio that produces large-scale installations and generative artworks across both physical and virtual spaces. He designed “Human Atmospheres” as traveling and adaptable, and says he’s in discussions to present it elsewhere.
He’s one of a growing number of artists turning to creative practice to explore the complex interplay between humans and climate. At the COP28 climate conference, for example, artist Yiyun Kang’s interactive project “Passage of Water” highlighted how human overuse is depleting Earth’s supply of freshwater, a vital but limited resource. And geo-environmental scientist Hiroto Nagai, who’s also a composer, created a stirring musical composition from 30 years of sonified climate data.
At the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum, music met Tanchum’s Human Atmospheres, which reacted in real time on stage to performances by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, joined by renowned violinist Renaud Capuçon and Grammy Award–winning artist Jon Batiste. As they played, giant images of mountains, fields and skies expanded and contracted behind them, a living echo of the natural world responding to human presence.
