November 26th, 2010
10:52 PM ET

Climate activists in Iceland use art to send message

Hundreds of red tents form the shape of a polar bear in Iceland.

Polar bears are not native to Iceland. But they have been arriving on its shores as their homes melt in the North Pole, a symbol of how climate change is affecting our world.

Or at least that's how Icelandic artist Bjargey Ólafsdóttir sees it, inspiring her contribution to the world’s first global climate art project.

"350 EARTH" is a series of giant public art displays around the planet to help raise awareness about the climate crisis before the UN Climate Meetings begin Monday in Cancun, Mexico, according to the event's organizers.

Each art installation is designed to be large enough to be visible from space, and the majority of the projects are being photographed by satellites operated by a Colorado-based company, Digital Globe.

The projects are intended to show the artists' perceptions of how climate change is affecting our world and offer visions of how to can solve the crisis.

In Iceland, Ólafsdóttir collaborated with a rescue team to create a polar bear out of hundreds of red tents at the base of a melting Icelandic glacier. The image is inspired by the Nazca lines of Peru and children's drawings, and it seeks to highlight diminishing glaciers and sea ice, as well as the uncertain future polar bears face.

"Art can convey in a different way than science the threat that climate change poses to our planet,” 350.org founder and environmental author Bill McKibben said. “The world’s best scientists have tried to wake up politicians to the climate crisis; now we’re counting on artists to help."

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Filed under: Art • Climate change • Environment
soundoff (26 Responses)
  1. Veritas

    @Ozzi my apologies the MEEK shall inherit the earth. for someone who doesnt buy into that way of thinking you certainly like to make sure its stated correctly. i still dont see why one mispelled word makes me an idiot but if it makes you feel better to be condescending then carry on neanderthal.

    November 28, 2010 at 11:14 am | Report abuse |
  2. MrWonderful

    It's ok Veritas. IQ tests aren't based on spelling so you can be on the smart team for global nerds vs terds warfare. I don't think Ozzi want's to play though. Smart move Oz man.

    November 28, 2010 at 11:32 am | Report abuse |
  3. handyshake

    thats way cool TOO its great and icleland is one of the best places too so its cool

    November 28, 2010 at 11:39 am | Report abuse |
  4. Nat

    actually Atom...at one point in time I use to buy into that stuff..Then I experienced God in my own life...besides evolution is nothing more than a theory...Has never been proved..but i can tell that by calling me ignorant that you are blinded by ur own self pride and ego.

    November 28, 2010 at 12:52 pm | Report abuse |
  5. John in Indy

    I said it was cool art! Manmade global warming has less supporting evidence than Darwinian evolution! All you hyper-smart, college-edjimakated, type-a folks should have been taught, or learned, that the universe in general, and earth in specific mathmatically hasn't been around long enough for evolution to work. Its all about the random chance in pairing the genes.
    Sorry for the diatribe, but there isn't any CREDIBLE evidence to support man causing global warming. Come on folks, don't be sheeple!

    November 28, 2010 at 10:08 pm | Report abuse |
    • KyleXR8

      No credible evidence? Dude, your head is majorly in the sand. In fact, it's quite the opposite. There is no credible evidence – not one shed – that climate change is not happening. And yet I could pile thousands – literally thousands – of volumes of research from around the world into your lap with your 'evidence.' If you need a climate change primer, see ClimateHQ – http://www.climatehq.com.

      The Earth hasn't been around long enough for evolution to have worked? What kind of nonsense is that? Better explain that to all those molecular biologists who see evolution happening before their eyes.

      December 23, 2010 at 3:10 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Dakota Willson

    So it looks like the climat is changing for real... People should be aware of that. Thanks for the post! The message is pretty clear now.

    PDF to Word converter http://openpdfconverter.com/

    October 26, 2011 at 8:59 am | Report abuse |
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