Earlier this week the IPCC (Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change) released a
report informing us that the state of the world is much worse than we realize. Its hard to say what impact the report will have. Maybe its too much information to absorb; maybe its beyond our understanding; maybe we haven't developed the coping mechanisms to process such dire news, or maybe this will finally be the report that will instigate major changes in governmental policies.
The recent installations of
Phyllida Barlow's work at the Tate Modern prove to be an excellent rendition of a world on the verge of collapse. Many of the things we have done to our environment are irreversible; but perhaps we might be able to piece back together some of the things we have destroyed. Barlow's work makes me think of human ingenuity and how things can be salvaged and maybe if we use our minds, hearts and imagination we can put the world back together before its too late. Barlow's work provides a metaphor of a fragile world that might be collapsing, but can be held together even if it has to be with the force of gravity, ties, rope and tape. Barlow talks about her choice of using objects found in the street here:
Art Talk. Titles of Barlow's recent catalogues refer to the idea of imminent catastrophe:
Seige and
Brink, and yet the immense imagination and labour involved in putting these constructions together reveals how creativity can hold back disaster, even if, as in this case, it is only in a symbolic way.
