MELTDOWN: A Visualization of Climate Change

Using art “as a positive touch-point” to inspire action and behavioural change, MELTDOWN is the latest museum exhibit tackling climate change. Curated by Project Pressure, a climate change charity, it will be on display for the summer at The Natural History Museum in Vienna.


Shroud-1 2018 by Simon Norfolk & Klaus Thymann/ Project Pressure via The Guardian

Over the last 11 years, Project Pressure has commissioned a series of world-renowned artists to conduct expeditions around the world. Centred on glaciers, the artists collaborated with scientists to frame their findings and creative interpretations. As key indicators of climate change, glaciers drive the narrative of the exhibit. Each interpretation frames the narrative in a scientific, illustrative, and poetic way while visualizing scale “from the planetary level to microscopic biological impact”.

Broken down into three chapters, the exhibit begins by thematically exploring the importance of glaciers. It showcases “year-on-year comparative images” to “illustrate glacier mass loss and the impact of climate change,” according to the curatorial statement. The second chapter tackles current issues by highlighting human dependence on water and how glacier recession impacts nation borders. The final chapter explores meltdown consequences by exploring well-known facts in juxtaposition with visualizations of the consequences of climate change.


Mount Baker, US, 2014 by Peter Funch/Project Pressure via The Guardian

The mission of the exhibit and of Project Pressure in general, is to “incite real behavioural change”. Visitors can calculate their carbon footprint, explore the carbon-intensity of their lifestyles, and receive recommendations for improvements for their home, diet, energy use, and transportation habits, among others.

Visit Project Meltdown’s Instagram to see more images.

 

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