For Standard Deviation I wanted to examine science’s often colonial stance towards nature, as well as the complications of conducting scientific research in Cabo Verde in a time of global capitalism and neocolonialism.
I approached this project by thinking about science from its positivist perspective and questioning the technical and philosophical devices associated with the scientific method. I looked at science and scientific research as this place where the natural and physical world are comprehensively — obsessively — observed, measured, classified and ordered in the name of surveillance and climate data modelling. Throughout this project, I developed a strong collaboration with both local and international scientists working in Cabo Verde and was able to grasp a tip of the entanglements and contradictions associated with climate change-related scientific research. In the process, I came to understand that error plays a fundamental role in illuminating the path to knowledge and focused my approach on the most humanising and intimate aspects of science, where failure, improvisation and “unimpossibility” are most visible.

Grateful acknowledgement to all researchers involved, in particular: Luís Neves (OACV), Vito Ramos and Elizandro Rodrigues (OSCM), Osvaldina Duarte Silva and Sandra Correia (INDP).

*This project was developed in the scope of Parallel Platform.