“At the core of any discussion of creativity or innovation is art.”
Photo by Ecns.cn
"In 2015, while the members of the United Nations gathered in Paris to discuss climate change, artist Olafur Eliasson and geologist Minik Rosing placed 12 glacial icebergs from Greenland’s Nuuk Fjord in Place du Panthéon square. As commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions took shape and the Paris Agreement formed, the citizens of the city walked amongst the melting Ice Watch installation “witness[ing] the ecological changes our world is undergoing”. Eliasson and Rosing brought the climate debate to the fingertips of the people.
"Despite being much discussed and studied, climate change remains for many a distant and intangible phenomenon. This perception impacts the actions people are willing to take to address the issue; distance from the concept, in this instance, is akin to distance from the threats. For Eliasson, art like Ice Watch works to overcome this, helping “people not only get to know and understand something with their minds but also to feel it emotionally and physically.” It is art aiming to make complex topics accessible in order to catalyse change.
"Eliasson is not the first to recognise this aspect of the power of art. While many works reflect and respond to what is happening in the world — with iconic examples including Picasso’s renowned anti-war commentary Guernica and Norman Rockwell’s encapsulation of the US Civil Rights Movement in The Problem We All Live With — art has also historically led to action. From Leonardo Da Vinci’s anatomical drawings, which changed the way we study the human body, to Andy Warhol’s commentary on products and celebrity that shaped how we think about and interact with branding and fame. These artistic endeavors, and many others, have shaped cultural debate and changed behaviour."
Article: The Role of Art in Driving Systems Change