Olafur Eliasson Confronts Climate Change with Icebergs in London
The artist’s installation ‘Ice Watch’ places giant melting blocks outside the Tate Modern and Bloomberg headquarters
The artist’s installation ‘Ice Watch’ places giant melting blocks outside the Tate Modern and Bloomberg headquarters
In a bid to confront the impact of climate change, artist Olafur Eliasson is bringing his installation Ice Watch to London, which will see melting chunks of glacial ice placed outside the Tate Modern and Bloomberg’s European headquarters. The installation will launch on 11 December.
Working with geologist Minik Rosing, Eliasson has taken blocks of ice from Greenland’s Nuup Kangerlua fjord, where they were melting into the ocean after separating from an ice sheet. The launch of Ice Watch coincides with the climate change conference COP24, as world leaders gather in Katowice, Poland. The installation in London is the third edition of Ice Watch, with past outings in Copenhagen and Paris.
‘By enabling people to experience and actually touch the blocks of ice in this project, I hope we will connect people to their surroundings in a deeper way and inspire radical change,’ the artist has said. ‘We must recognize that together we have the power to take individual actions to push for systemic change. Let’s transform climate knowledge into climate action.’ Ice Watch will be on view until 21 December.
Eliasson’s work often deals with the perception and implications of environmental change. His 2012 project Little Sun, collaborating with the entrepreneuer Frederik Ottesen, created a portable solar lamp for those living without access to energy supplies. Since its initial pilot project for people living off-grid in Ethiopia, Little Sun has grown into a network across Africa, sold 661,577 lamps worldwide and reduced CO2 emissions by 134,572 tonnes.
