Today I'm supporting the launch of 'Earth perspectives', a new artwork conceived by Olafur Eliasson for Earth Day 2020 whom I had the pleasure of meeting and working with at a Rolex Mentors and Proteges a number of years ago and understood then how big he thought and how much he cared about the environment and because this year, the beloved Serpentine Pavilion which always pointed towards the future will not go up in London. It's comprised of nine images featuring nine different views over the Earth. The work explores how maps, space and the earth itself are all to a certain extent construction, which we all have the power to see from other perspectives, whether individually or collectively.
To create a new world view...
1. Stare at the dot on the Earth about ten seconds.
2. Then train your focus onto a blank surface.
3. An afterimage appears in the complementary colours of Eliasson's visual.
4. You have projected a new world view.
I'm sharing this work as part of the @serpentineuk 'Back to Earth' initiative, a new, multi-year project that invites artists, scientists, architects, musicians, and more to make work that responds to the climate emergency.
The Earth viewed over the Simien Mountains, Ethiopia
One of the rare places in Africa where snow falls regularly, this range is part of the Ethiopian Highlands, known as the 'Roof of Africa'.