It is nice see that some artists are engaging in ecological issues, an engagement that is surprisingly rare, considering how in the past the arts scene used to be more political – it seems like climate change, alternative energy and green issues in general haven’t caught the art world’s imagination – But, as I said, there are exceptions. Tiffany Holmes is one of them.
Holmes uses her technological expertise to promote positive environmental stewardship. For example, she has been commissioned by the City of Chicago to create a street-level video piece to raise awareness about the unseen perils of drinking bottled water in a city with the top-ranked tap in the USA.
Her latest project is called World Offset, “an interactive website which allows individuals to pledge carbon offsets that alter the visuals in the eco-visualization.” Eco-visualization makes numeric environmental data visible and understandable through imaging, sound or animation, enabling the practioner to promote environmental awareness and make the data accessible to a wider audience.
World Offset was launched in March with no carbon offsets. All of the spinning disks were then filled with devices that consume energy: hairdryers, toasters, cars, and airplanes. When the first 75,000 pounds of carbon are promised, a change occurs in the animation: trees replace hairdryers.
According to Holmes, “the initial goal of the animation was to offset a minimum 15,000 pounds of carbon, the amount that the average American consumes per year. The fact that so many real promises are required to offset the impact of one individual is in itself a demonstration of the enormous challenge of modifying human behavior to slow climate change. This initial goal of 15,000 lbs was met during the exhibition opening.” By now it has recorded 333,812.72 pounds promised.
The website looks great and it offers a very user-friendly interface. I made my promises and saved 5,693.2 pounds of carbon. I wish more artists came up with ideas like this and explored their talents to help promote behavioural change in the fight against climate change. Give a go.
Hi, thank you so much for helping to publicize the World Offset art work. I’ve had a great response to it and recently the goal was met of offsetting over 500,000 pounds of carbon! I’m going to reset the eco-visualization back to the “applicance” state and hope to green it again at 1,000,000 pounds of carbon.
Also, I’m working hard on an academic research paper about using art to promote environmental change in the area of conservation. Would you or any of your readers be willing to be interviewed? Please contact me, my email is on the website listed above.