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IIn 1975, photographer Michel Comte rose up in front of scientists, business leaders and politicians from the Club of Rome to deliver a speech on the climate disaster that he thought was at the time. 39; horizon. At the time, he was still a student and a little nervous – but he could perceive the future. Now, Comte's recent work integrating jet-stream black carbon spillovers, presented in Rome, Milan, and Hong Kong, proves how much he was right to speak out.
Comte's message was picked up last week in the UK, when thousands of schoolchildren – inspired by Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old climate activist – took to the streets to lobby the government for that it acts against climate change. Like Comte, they saw a dark future and express themselves.
Unfortunately, this has not been the case for most arts and culture institutions, which have spent the past decades reacting to climate change with no more than silence. They have been dangerously complicit in desensitizing society to what is really at stake.
It has not always been the case. In the mid-90s, when a post-Chernobyl generation made its voice heard, the environmental protest movement was fueled by critical drama, radical art exhibitions, public debate and music. ;avant-garde. Then something changed. In reaction to the brutal reaction against fossil fuels, the main energy suppliers have become involved in artistic sponsorship. It was not a harmless philanthropy. In parallel with the rise of the successful exhibition, the importance of Shell and BP for arts centers' artistic budgets has increased to the point that many large national institutions were serving the giants of the arts. fossil fuels. Some are still today.
But even for those who are released (or exchanged for car manufacturers), the damage to a generation was caused. For decades, art institutions have practiced self-censorship to pay for their productions, set up breathtaking programming, and tackle critical topics, as long as there is no in-depth debate. on our dependence on fossil fuels. This strategic exclusion from a topic of public debate over more than one generation has led to ignorance, with repercussions on education, academic and public life.
But there is hope in the air. A retrospective Olafur Eliasson is planned at the Tate Modern this summer. His Ice Watch project has recently been invited to melt in front of the museum, taking into account the carbon impact of each block. As for Comte, he is about to board a sailboat for a difficult passage in the Arctic, creating a monumental light installation calling us to change course before it is too late. If we allow more artists like this to be part of the conversation, we will have a culture geared to the generation of children who have descended into our streets.
Nuclear Fallout, Sea Level Rise and … Nail Clippings
When artist Yi Dai opened her first solo show in Berlin, she received rave reviews praising her subtle and intelligent coverage of environmental topics. The Misfits, Falls and Shipwrecked in 2016 was an urgent statement reflecting the impact of nuclear fallout and rising sea temperatures, as well as the fragility of our ecosystem. His exhibition was as much a personal account of his Marshall Islands experience as a call to action after the hottest winter in history. His show, Rejected … During my twenties (at the Egorn House in Berlin until February 23), explores the subject of the human body: the artist juxtaposes bodily remains – hairs, cuts, and cuts. nails, blood – with building materials such as steel, concrete and glass that surrounds, contains or reflects our body.
Navigation to the Arctic for a climate watch
The Wavelength Foundation was created in late 2017 on a sailboat by an international group of journalists, writers, environmentalists, cultural workers, artists and scientists. One of the fundamental principles of the foundation is that a rich and meaningful cultural engagement with nature is needed to readjust their lost relationship. Comte will soon embark on the Arctic to lay the groundwork for his large-scale Black Light 3D mapping facility, inviting sailors from all over the world to join his vigorous climate watch. At the same time, the foundation's Change Maker program is helping to build a center for sustainable arts and culture in South America to give the opportunities of a circular economy to the lives of children and youth wishing to escape. to the cycle of poverty.
Remember Earth before the cataclysms
The Parisian artist Nadine Rotem-Stibbe explores environmental issues with a keen sense of design. His installation In Loving Memory, 2018, at 0.8 ° C, made in collaboration with Ryan Cherewaty, can be found on an abandoned construction site at Ebbingekwartier in Groningen, the Netherlands. This is a melancholy and mocking vision of our time, which makes us think of a fictitious (but not unrealistic) future in which a vast cache of archeological objects has been updated in the plain. trans-European flood. The artifacts offer an unprecedented look at human life in 2018, before the great cataclysms that struck. There is a deep obsession for objects created from the industrial processing of complex carbon chain polymers – plastics – an industry that has been instrumental in the significant increase in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. These objects seem to have survived extreme climate change and offer a glimpse of our perplexing culture.
The art school at the end of the world
Perched on the shores of a marine lake and overlooking the Minch and the hills of Harris and Skye, the Lews Castle College in the Outer Hebrides, has been described as "art school at the periphery of the world ". Sustainability is a key element of teaching, with students reacting to the environment and to the unique wilderness of an unusual place. The college organizes conferences of practitioners in various fields, ranging from marine biologists and archaeologists to traditional manufacturers working with natural materials. Part of the building is the site of a light installation recently commissioned by Finnish artists Timo Aho and Pekka Niittyvirta, who interacts with the tide changes and active at high tide. The book provides a visual reference of the future sea-level rise and explores the long-term catastrophic impact of our relationship with nature.
Mountain biking by our tumultuous climate
Tales of Change brings together stories about the impact of climate change on the communities of some of the most iconic mountain ranges on the planet. Its protagonist, Florian Reber, crossed the Alps by bike, from Trieste on the Adriatic coast to Cannes, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Along the way, he met with farmers, foresters, environmentalists, tourism experts, mountaineers and professional athletes, psychologists, writers and journalists on the road. climate change. The findings are consistent, including pronounced droughts that have dried up many rivers and springs in the southern Dolomites. This was followed by the strongest föhn storms of recent years, which caused record temperatures in October 2018. Then come torrential rains and strong winds caused by cyclone Vaia, uprooting thousands of trees and making victims. While this trip involved 1,180 miles of cycling, an ascent of over 35,000 meters and the mastery of two dozen passes in the winter, the intrepid explorer is now preparing to expand his reach to the Rockies and l & # 39; Himalayas. The project has been exhibited in Switzerland and Italy but, like Reber, it is constantly evolving.
Solar robots turning snow into glaciers
Located in the beautiful historic Barcelona Pavilion, Sant Cosme and Sant Damià, Quo Artis is an international non-profit organization dedicated to promoting dialogue between the arts, science and technology. Recent activities include Glaciator, an Antarctic art installation of solar robots that help compact and crystallize the snow by turning it into ice and then sticking it to the glacier mass. The melting of glaciers being one of the most alarming effects of global warming, these robots have the mission to accelerate the process of ice formation to allow glaciers to recover the mass lost after the thaw.
The old furniture factory where "waste is a failure of the imagination"
This 1930s furniture factory, located in the south of Sweden, is emerging as one of the most interesting places for interdisciplinary research and innovation in sustainable development. The idea of the former gallerist David Risley, the hub, combines culture, science, philosophy, freedom of thought and commerce. Its opening is scheduled for the summer of 2020. With over 12,000 square meters of open space spread over several floors, Funkisfabriken could become a testbed for new sustainable approaches. "Waste is a lack of imagination," reads in its founding slogan. Located a short walk from the home and garden of botanist Carl Linnaeus, this space will include a range of laboratories (wet, dry, clean and dirty), an urban farm, a circular economy center, a conference room, exhibition spaces and sculpture parks – not to mention a hotel, indoor garden and a zero-waste restaurant set up by Doug McMaster of Brighton's Silo restaurant.
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