The COP27 meeting in Egypt is in full swing and just as in previous years this global platform has created opportunities for artists to showcase art highlighting the science and impact of climate change.
Participants attend the unveiling of a giant 6.5m-long sculpture called Bodies Joined by a Molecule … [+]
One of the most striking artworks at COP27 is “Bodies Joined by a Molecule of Air” by Invisible Flock and Jon Bausor. This massive metal sculpture that represents both lungs and trees takes central stage at the Health Pavilion at COP27 and has already been featured in many photos from the event. It’s almost impossible to miss, and hopefully makes people think about air quality.
In an Instagram post, artist Victoria Pratt of Invisible Flock shared some of the process behind the work. The inspiration came from a photo of a tree she took, but to get from there to the design, materials and final sculpture required several people.
Art studio Invisible Flock also curated other pieces at COP27, such as “How To Make An Ocean” by artist Kasia Molga, who collected her own tears in tiny vials in which she then placed algae from the North Sea: Sea life sustained by human tears.
Another much talked about art installation at the COP27 climate event is the interactive “Heaven & Hell in the Anthropocene” by Bahia Shehab, found in the conference’s Green Zone. Here, visitors can enter one of two rooms. Each of the rooms has its own visuals, sounds, smells, and temperature. One room represents “hell” and the other “heaven” to signify different possible futures. Visitors don’t know which room they’ll be entering, but they’re directed to one of the rooms based on a choice they made in a fictional story before entering the exhibit. After the COP27 meeting, the installation will be made available to others through a creative commons-licensed set of instructions, so expect to see “Heaven & Hell” at future art and climate events.
The impact of having art accessible to visitors at COP27 may not be immediately obvious, but a study from a few years ago showed that interactions with art at a previous COP event (COP21 in Paris) was able to encourage people into action. In particular, works that offered messages of hope were inspirational.
And other studies have shown that dealing with climate change does not only rely on the sciences. It has such an emotional impact on people that they need other outlets to process it, and the arts and humanities play an important role in that.
So expect to see a lot more climate art in the next few years.
