Social distancing – Week 5: Earth Day 2020

I started this post, initially, writing about how galleries are collaborating to create online events. A couple of examples are “Platform New York” and “Platform London” launched by David Zwirner to support smaller galleries in the respective cities. Also, I found “Not Cancelled”, which instead presents online art weeks in different European cities (this week is the turn of Warsaw and Paris – until April 30th and May 5th respectively). As we are continuously overwhelmed by cyber art events, Livestreams, and tips to get through social distancing, I felt my topic has become less exciting. So I changed the subject and chose to offer you some hints to reflect on our world and the time we live in. Wednesday 22nd April 2020 was the Earth Day and two artists – Olafur Eliasson and Michael Moore – responded to the event by presenting their latest projects.

For the occasion, the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson launched “Earth Perspectives”, a new interactive work that invites the public to think about the planet we inhabit. Presented as part of the Serpentine Galleries’ “Back to Earth” initiative, the artist’s new project comprises nine animations which have been posted on Instagram at different hours of Earth Day 2020. Each animation represents the globe in pink (land) and orange (oceans) seen from different latitudes. In the centre of each representation, there is a black spot at which we are asked to stare for 10 seconds. After that, if we focus on a neutral surface, an afterimage appears. Each animation highlights one different environmental issue and, through the optical trick, encourages the audience to think about climate change from different perspectives.

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1/9: Today we’re launching ‘Earth perspectives’, a new artwork conceived by Olafur for Earth Day 2020. It’s comprised of nine animations featuring nine different views over the Earth that we’ll post throughout the day. We’re sharing this work as part of the Serpentine Galleries’ ‘Back to Earth’ initiative, a new, multi-year project that invites artists, scientists, architects, musicians, and more to make work that responds to the climate emergency. Olafur originally conceived one Earth perspectives map for Real Review, spring issue 2020, a magazine edited by Jack Self. At the centre of the Earth view above is the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. This is the world’s biggest single structure made entirely by living organisms and is the most extensive reef system on the planet. It is also the most biologically diverse ecosystem in the world, home to vulnerable and endangered species, many of which can be found nowhere else. The reef has long been culturally and spiritually significant to Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, so it marks an important intersection between fragile cultural and biological heritages. This ‘Great Barrier’ not only is a physical threshold in the ocean – it also represents an ecological threshold that humans are pushing the limits of. Currently facing its third mass bleaching event in five years, the Great Barrier Reef may already be at a tipping point, and projections warn that global warming could destroy the whole reef by 2050. To curb the prognosis of catastrophic collapse, the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP) has been weighing proposals for methods to reduce local water temperatures by blocking sunlight, for example, with human-made fog, with ‘cloud brightening’, and by covering the ocean surface with a molecule-thick layer of calcium carbonate. While these measures could buy us valuable time, the experts emphasise that none of these technologies are substitutes for the only truly effective solution: ambitious legislation for global emissions reduction. @serpentineuk #earthperspectives #earthday2020 #backtoearth

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Meanwhile, in America, the filmmaker, author, and activist Michael Moore released his new film, “Planets of the Humans”. The documentary shows green energy solutions are not clean and renewable as they seem to be. Moore argues that they rely upon fossil fuel to function, and brings as examples solar and biomass energies, among others. On one side, the film leaves spectators puzzled about the sustainability of green energy as a means to save our planet. On the other hand, it provoked (and still does) the anger of many from environment campaigners to scientists. As reported from the Guardian, “Films For Action, an online library of videos, temporarily took down the film after describing it as ‘full of misinformation’.” Aside from the harsh critique, the documentary highlights that we, human beings, are too many, and our beloved planet is overpopulated. Consequently, there are not enough resources for all.

Eliasson engages the audience through Instagram, while Moore makes his work available for free on both Film For Action and YouTube. Both are using hugely popular online platforms to spread their work and get people thinking about climate change. Indeed, we are challenged to question the information we retrieve to tackle the problem with fresh eyes. Will we find viable solutions to preserve humankind whilst also protecting planet Earth? Are we supposed to choose between the two?

I don’t know.

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