Tereza Severová, The New Atlas of Clouds

 

10 flags on flagpoles, site-specific installation in the landscape

The installation, created specifically for the landscape surrounding the village of Šediviny in the Orlické Mountains, presents ten original flags mounted on flagpoles rising above the surrounding hills. The flags partly cover the sky, while the wind sets their images in motion. This is not a political declaration of territorial claims, as the format of a flag might suggest. Instead of traditional symbols of state power, the flags celebrate a natural element—something changeable, fleeting, yet essential. A cloud carries moisture, promises fertility, and signifies life. Its presence in the sky confirms that the natural water cycle continues. Its visual representation in the form of a flag, flying against the real sky, creates a tension between the natural and the cultural landscape. Yet these are not ordinary clouds—the flags depict clouds that might appear in the sky a thousand years from now.

Stratus thermalis – Low, wide cloud formations that develop above areas experiencing extreme warming, such as highly urbanized zones or regions with intense temperature fluctuations. These clouds would be denser and more persistent, forming opaque layers that blanket the sky.

Nimbus Cybera – Clouds forming in areas with high levels of pollution and technological emissions. These clouds would contain fine particles that alter their structure and color, giving them an artificial, metallic appearance.

Aeroformis – Irregular cloud formations that would emerge due to advanced atmospheric dynamics. They could form at altitudes where temperature differences between air layers create new and unexpected cloud structures.

Hydromorphus – Clouds containing not only water droplets and ice crystals but also microorganisms and fine natural particles. This type of cloud could form in areas with high biological activity, where pollution and microbial processes influence cloud formation.

Anticumulus – A new type of cumulus cloud that would form in an atmosphere with greater contrasts between cold and warm air masses. These clouds would have an inverted structure compared to classic cumulus clouds, leading to their fragmentation and the formation of irregular “rain-like” patterns.

Pyrostratus – Clouds associated with increasingly frequent wildfires caused by climate change. These formations would arise from vapors and smoke rising into the atmosphere, creating long, dark, smoke-laden layers above the Earth’s surface.

Cirrohydros – High, delicate clouds composed primarily of water droplets rather than ice crystals. This type of cloud could result from changes in atmospheric temperature, where lower temperatures allow greater condensation of water even in such high layers of the atmosphere.

Cirroplasma – Extremely high, delicate cloud formations containing a mixture of water droplets and ionized particles. These clouds would form in atmospheres with increasing amounts of plasma and ionized substances, which would influence their structure.

Altostratus climatus – Mid-level clouds that would form as a result of global warming and increasingly frequent extreme rainfall events. They would become part of shifting climate patterns, creating more stable cloud layers that help regulate temperature and humidity.

Luminocumulus – Clouds containing bioluminescent organisms or chemical substances that allow them to emit a gentle glow, similar to the aurora borealis. This phenomenon could result from changes in atmospheric chemistry or from technological processes.

The project was realized with the support of the Visual Arts Program of the Škoda Auto Endowment Fund and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Prague.