Data compilation on the biological response to ocean acidification: environmental and experimental context of data sets and related literature

The exponential growth of studies on the biological response to ocean acidification over the last few decades has generated a large amount of data. To facilitate data comparison, a data compilation hosted at the data publisher PANGAEA was initiated in 2008 and is updated on a regular basis (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.149999). By January 2015, a total of 581 data sets (over 4 000 000 data points) from 539 papers had been archived. Here we present the developments of this data compilation five years since its first description by Nisumaa et al. (2010). Most of study sites from which data archived are still in the Northern Hemisphere and the number of archived data from studies from the Southern Hemisphere and polar oceans are still relatively low. Data from 60 studies that investigated the response of a mix of organisms or natural communities were all added after 2010, indicating a welcomed shift from the study of individual organisms to communities and ecosystems. The initial imbalance of considerably more data archived on calcification and primary production than on other processes has improved. There is also a clear tendency towards more data archived from multifactorial studies after 2010. For easier and more effective access to ocean acidification data, the ocean acidification community is strongly encouraged to contribute to the data archiving effort, and help develop standard vocabularies describing the variables and define best practices for archiving ocean acidification data.

Stripping Sight Bare : Alison Jones’ ‘Portraits by Proxy’

In this paper I analyse UK artist Alison Jones’ sonic interventions Portrait of the Artist by Proxy (2008), Voyeurism by Proxy (2008) and Art, Lies and Audio Tapes (2009). In Portrait of the Artist by Proxy, Jones – who, due to deteriorating vision, has not seen her reflection in a mirror in years – asks and trusts participants to audio-describe her own image back to her. In Voyeurism by Proxy, Jones asks participants to audio-describe erotic drawings by Gustav Klimt. In Art, Lies and Audio Tapes, Jones asks participants to audio-describe other artworks, such as W.F. Yeames’ And When Did You Last see Your Father?. In these portraits by proxy, Jones opens her image, and other images, to interpretation. In doing so, Jones draws attention to the way sight is privileged as a mode of access to fixed, fundamental truths in Western culture – a mode assumed to be untainted by filters that skew perception of the object. “In a culture where vision is by far the dominant sense,” Jones says, “and as a visual artist with a visual impairment, I am reliant on audio-description …Inevitably, there are limitations imposed by language, time and the interpreter’s background knowledge of the subject viewed, as well as their personal bias of what is deemed important to impart in their description” . In these works, Jones strips these background knowledges, biases and assumptions bare. She reveals different perceptions, as well as tendencies or censor, edit or exaggerate descriptions. In this paper, I investigate how, by revealing unconscious biases, Jones’ works renders herself and her participants vulnerable to a change of perception. I also examine how Jones’ later editing of the audio-descriptions allows her to show the instabilities of sight, and, in Portrait of the Artist by Proxy, to reclaim authorship of her own image.

Outdoor portrait of Jenny Gutman (left) and Erna Strasburger with unidentified young boy Portraits Groups

Digital Image

Unidentified nurses and injured World War I soldiers celebrating with champagne and flowers Portraits Groups

Handwritten correspondence on verso covered over with pasted black paper

Studio portrait of Frau Muelde Portraits Women

Digital Image

Studio portrait of Werner and Hans Rath; Mannheim Portraits Family

Digital Image

Henny? Beitman with a bicycle; Dielkirchen, Falkenstein, Germany Portraits Women

Digital Image

Studio portrait of Uncle Loeb Portraits Men

Digital Image

Portrait of young Hans Frankenbach seated at a desk Portraits Men

Digital Image

Portrait of Surgeon Major Dr. Meyer of Dueren (Rhineland) in military uniform Portraits Men

Digital Image

Portrait of Surgeon Major Dr. Bing of Nuernberg in his military uniform Portraits Men

Digital Image

Studio portrait of Henny Meyerstein nee Rosenbaum and Harry Meyerstein Portraits Couples

Handwritten postcard from Henny and Harry Meyerstein to Hans Frankenbach

Family portrait including Elsa Fleissig nee Loewenthal, August Fleissig, Lena Loewenthal, Hans Frankenbach and Justin Loewenthal Portraits Family

Digital Image

Walther Simon of Hamburg with his wife and daughter Ursula outdoors; Schenectady, New York Portraits Family

Digital Image