Much of the information we learn today about global warming is funneled to us by scientists as a result of the studies they perform and the predictions they make based upon those studies. A group of forty artists from twenty-five countries, however, has utilized their talent to produce an exhibit intended to educate the world about the effect melting ice caps will have on living species. The result is entitled "Melting Ice: A Hot Topic", and it is scheduled to arrive in this country in April.
An American artist, Chris Jordan, has made an interesting contribution to the exhibit. Jordan is fascinated by consumerism and chose to replicate Ansel Adam's famous photograph of Mount McKinley in Alaska's Denali National Park. Jordan, however, digitally replicated Adam's photograph, incorporating 24,000 logos of General Motors' Denali SUV. Why 24,000 logos? That number represents how many Denali SUVs were sold during a six-week period in 2004. In a clever twist, Jordan chose to correctly spell "Denali" in half the of the 24,000 digital tiles, and to misspell it as "Denial" in the other half, thereby making his own statement about the consumption of fossil fuels by SUVs and their impact on the environment.
The hope of the exhibit's organizers is that if the public observes the effects of global warming through the artistic forum, it will appeal to the emotions that only art can provoke and bring about change.
The exhibit began its tour in Oslo, Norway and is currently in Brussels. It will travel to Monaco next, after which it will come to Chicago in April, where it will remain until June 5, 2008--Earth Day.
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