How do pollution and technology change how we see rainbows?

Across cultures, rainbows have symbolised hope, transformation, and the connection between nature, spirit, and human imagination. Today, they appear in the LGBTQ+ flag and countless brand logos. But while its symbol is visible everywhere, the natural rainbow is threatened by environmental pollution. 

In im/possible rainbows, a media archaeologist finds that a mass-produced “Neon Rainbow Light,” often seen in children’s bedrooms, symbolizes the decline of legibility of nature’s original ‘glitch’: the atmospheric rainbow.

Rosa Menkman | b. 1983, Arnhem
Rosa Menkman is a Dutch artist, researcher, and educator. She interrogates the concept of resolution – not simply as a measure of detail but as a dynamic site of cultural and perceptual negotiation. As a “media archaeologist from the future,” she digs into the compromises at the core of image processing across technical, cultural, and political contexts. Her publication Glitch Moment/um (INC, 2011) has been central to developing theoretical and practical frameworks for Glitch Art. Her publication Beyond Resolution critiques the emphasis on high-resolution digital media, exploring how glitches and image distortions reveal deeper creative and conceptual insights.