Art, Climate, and the Space in between

Throughout history, every age has had its own unique outlook on the connection between nature and culture. Today, we live in an epoch of human caused climate change – widely dubbed as the anthropocene - and our long familiar relationship with the environment is shifting.

This has created a landscape of vulnerability around the globe and artists have taken notice. This is important, because art helps make complex issues - like climate change - more visible and allows society to look at and to understand the world in new ways. This type of awareness is vital if we, as a society, are to change our behavior and adapt to a new environment.

Building on my previous interdisciplinary art-science projects, this talk will explore how artists from around the world - working in a variety of mediums - have been reacting to the various impacts of climate change and its possible solutions. As a basis for discussion, it will also briefly look at how science has been a muse to the arts in the past. Moreover, moving from the qualitative to the quantitative, it will highlight some recent metrics that show art to be a powerful tool of communication that helps to broaden the public conversation on climate change.