A photographer, visual artist and computer scientist, Tommaso Cherubini works at the intersection of art, technology and research, transforming big data, historical archives and scientific information into visual material. His background as a computer scientist enables him to navigate different media and languages, drawing on generative artificial intelligence to reshape data and images and explore some of the social and environmental issues of our time.
At the heart of his research lies the idea of art as a potential tool for raising awareness. It is from this perspective that Invisible Ecologies emerged, a project initially developed in Florence around the River Arno and subsequently reimagined for Rome and the River Tiber on the occasion of Videocittà’, the Roman Festival dedicated to music, dance, and digital culture. Having seen the Florentine work, artistic director Anna Lea Antolini and creative director Michele Lotti invited Cherubini to develop a new version for the event, hosted in a historic and significant location in the city: the industrial site of the former Gazometro.
We asked Cherubini to tell us about this work and the way in which he chose to portray the Tiber through scientific parameters, and as a presence interwoven with Rome’s history and identity through water quality monitoring, historical events and environmental transformations.
We explored with him the process behind this transformation: from scientific and institutional sources to dialogue with those who produce and interpret the data, from the creation of images to the use of artificial intelligence, right through to the search for a balance between scientific accuracy and artistic licence. A journey that seeks to make visible what normally remains hidden within the numbers and, through art, to offer us a different way of looking at the river and the city that has grown up around it.
E.G. Rossi: What were the sources for your research?
T. Cherubini: I have worked with scientific and institutional sources, always prioritising data that is verifiable and traceable back to its source. The hydrological basis of the project is founded on Bersani’s studies of the Tiber’s floods in Rome, a series of publications covering over a century of observations, ranging from the National Hydrographic and Tide Gauge Service to the most recent studies on the influence of climate change on the river’s floods. In addition to these, I drew on the ISPRA Hydrological Annals, the chemical monitoring carried out by ACEA on the urban stretch from 1985 to the present day, and the official classifications of ecological and chemical status produced by ARPA Lazio.
I have supplemented these institutional sources with a citizen science dossier entitled ‘Giù al Tevere’, compiled by A Sud in collaboration with the Coordinamento Romano Acqua Pubblica, which has enabled me to approach the river not only from the perspective of scientific measurement, but also from the viewpoint of those who experience and observe it on a daily basis. I always cross-referenced data from multiple sources before using it in the work, to ensure that the installation was not based on approximate or unverified values.
Could you go into more detail about the use of graphics, particularly the way in which you transformed the scientific data into images?
The visual heart of the work is a particle system developed in TouchDesigner, which translates the state of the river into visual behaviour. For the colour scheme, I used Russell’s Circumplex Model of Affect, a model that relates two axes: the health of the ecosystem, which determines the primary colour of the particles, shifting from the green of a healthy river to the blue of critical conditions; and the level of biological activation, which determines a secondary colour that is always offset from the primary one, to ensure visual contrast and legibility on the LED wall.
On top of this particle system, I built a graphical interface conceived as a scientific console, which I designed to display multiple levels of interpretation simultaneously: the passage of time via a timeline spanning over a century, from 1900 to the present day; the particle system generated in real time from the data; the scientific readings on the river’s condition, updated scene by scene; and the most significant historical events for the Roman population, for the river and for Rome itself, accompanied by visual representations of those very events. The aim was to create an experience in which the audience could interpret the data whilst perceiving its visual effect, without the two dimensions – the analytical and the immersive – being mutually exclusive.
Was there a moment when the data suggested an unexpected artistic direction?
Rather than the data in the strict sense, it was the events linking Rome to the river that led me in a direction I hadn’t anticipated at the outset. Whilst studying the hydrological history of the Tiber, I came across episodes that told a story far beyond mere environmental reporting: the construction of the river embankments, the era of the ‘fiumaroli’ (river workers), the discovery of leptospirosis in urban waters in 1960, and the industrial pollution that emerged during the First World War. Each event carried a human, almost emotional, weight, in addition to its scientific significance.
This led me to present the project in a more romantic way than my usual approach, incorporating historical events as an integral part of the narrative and seeking to convey what concretely links the Tiber to the people of Rome. I no longer wanted simply to show a river changing over time; I wanted to tell the story of a relationship – that between a city and its river – made up of distance, memory, neglect and affection.
How do you balance the scientific and artistic aspects?
I see myself as a conduit. My role is not to replace the work of scientists, but to give the public a first glimpse of the scientific data through art, which can spark curiosity to find out more and delve deeper. I see my work as a first step, after which it must make way for those who practise science on a daily basis: researchers, academics and science communicators.
For me, data is raw material. I treat it as something to be transformed into an engaging experience, capable of generating interest, which tells an emotional story starting from numbers that would otherwise remain distant from the non-specialist public. The balance between science and art in my work is more of a process than a division: science remains the solid, verified foundation upon which I build, whilst art is the tool that makes that foundation accessible, memorable and capable of resonating with someone who would otherwise never have read an ARPA report or a hydrological yearbook.
Could you elaborate on the method and approach you adopt when working with artificial intelligence?
For me, artificial intelligence is a tool. My background in computer science allows me to harness its potential in a conscious and targeted way throughout the entire working process: in data processing, optimisation and normalisation, and finally in visual representation through images and videos.
I use generative AI primarily during the data processing stage and when the data needs to be transformed into images, to construct the visual language that accompanies the particle system and to give form to the organisms and content that integrate the work. Throughout this process, I always strive to retain creative control and responsibility for the final result: AI offers additional possibilities, but the selection, artistic direction and consistency with the scientific data remain my responsibility, guided by my own style and research.
You work extensively with archives. What role does dialogue with the institutions that inform your work play in your research? It plays a central role. I always try to establish a direct dialogue with those who produce the data, asking them to tell me about the work behind the measurements, not just to explain the results.
I want to get to the heart of the matter, to understand the human side of this work: the passion behind the scientific management of a river, the people who monitor water quality year after year, who study floods, and who compile the historical data series upon which I then build my artwork.
This dialogue helps me remain true to the reality of the data and, at the same time, enriches my understanding of the river, adding a human dimension that the numbers alone could never convey.
In what ways did the context of the Videocittà festival influence the production of the project?
The context was wonderful. Artistic director Anna Lea Antolini and creative director Michele Lotti suggested I create the work after seeing the piece presented in Florence on the Arno, and right from the start we got on very well on a personal level, which for me remains the most important thing in any collaboration. On a professional level, they were impeccable: we enjoyed ourselves throughout the process and created an installation that appealed to both them and the audience.
I love Rome; I enjoy spending time in this city, and it was an honour for me to be able to tell the story of the Tiber through my work. I hope I have done justice to such an incredible river, its history and the people who live alongside it every day.
images: (all) Tommaso Cherubini, «Invisible Ecologies Tevere», 2026
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