This iconic photograph taken by astronaut William Anders on Christmas Eve in 1968 from the Apollo 8 was the first image shown to human's of our precious earth. This photograph became known as "Earth Rise" and was the impetus for Earth Day that began in 1970. A few years later the Clean Air Act was signed into law by Nixon. With these changes happening for the last 40+ years I thought this would be a good time to reflect and ponder how far we've come. Or have we? The earth seems to be in a deeper mess than back in the 70's and human keep creating technology keeps creating toxic trash that becomes this horrible cycle. What are the solutions and what are the answers?
350.org has planned a world art exhibition Nov 20-28 with 20 art exhibits planned. These are a list of some of the projects planned:
List of EARTH Events
In Los Angeles, USA 1,000 people will form the image of a ‘Solar Eagle taking Flight,’ combining solar photovoltaic film sheets and human bodies.
In New York City, USA artist Molly Dilworth, famous for painting a mural in the new Times Square Plaza, is creating a “Cool Roof” for a school by painting a lightly colored representation of the New York and New Jersey coastline after a 7 meter rise in sea levels.
In Mumbai, India, nearly 5,000 schoolchildren will work with aerial artist Daniel Dancer to form the image of a giant elephant to ask world leaders to not ignore the “elephant in the room”: climate change.
In Cape Town, South Africa, the Canary Project and local citizens will create an enormous Solar Sun out of 70 high powered parabolic solar cookers with the “rays” being on the ground tables where the local community will feast on traditional food made in the solar cookers.
In Delta de Ebro, Spain internationally acclaimed artist Jorge Rodriguez Gerada will transform the image of a girl from the local community whose town is threatened by sea level rise into a large walking maze that will be seen from space.
In Santa Fe, NM, USA, Girl Scouts, church groups and thousands of local citizens will stand in a dry riverbed to recreate where the Santa Fe River should be flowing. As global warming leads to higher temperatures and a reduced snow pack, the river, which provides 40% of Santa Fe’s water, is drying up.
In the Australian Outback, hundreds of people with large torches will work with renowned photographer Peter Solness and fire artist Keith Chidzey to create an image of a burning “350” to symbolize the inevitable increase in wild fires if the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is not reduced.
In Iceland, artist Bjargey Ólafsdóttir will create a polar bear from hundreds of tents at the edge of a glacier. The image is inspired by the Nazca lines of Peru and children's drawings, and seeks to highlight diminishing glaciers and sea ice, as well as the uncertain future polar bears face.
In Cairo, Egypt, hundreds of students will form the image of a traditional Scarab beetle, a traditional symbol of rebirth and regeneration that was often depicted on temple walls pushing the ball of the sun across the sky. Using the scarab and the sun in this art piece is both a reminder of the integral part the sun has always played in Egyptian history, and a call for re-examining our modern relationship to this most abundant source of clean energy.
Additional events in the United Kingdom, China, the Maldives, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, the Dominican Republic and the United States to be announced in the next week.
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