David Partridge : Environmental Artist email : [email protected]
2018 - Eleven years to the tipping point!
The last mass extinction was caused by a meteor, 65 million years ago. Another mass extinction is now in progress! caused by mankind.
Burning fossil fuels and pumping CO2 into our atmosphere is increasing the average temperature of our planet.
The increased temperature has increased severe storms, droughts and is killing coral reefs in our Oceans.
Scotland is way ahead of climate change targets producing 98% of their electricity from clean wind power.
However the world as a whole, now has more CO2 in the atmosphere and is warming up our planet towards the 1.5 degree limit.
As the ice melts, Methane, CH4 is being released, another greenhouse gas that was trapped beneath cold Oceans and ice.
Methane is a runaway climate change gas that, once released, will warm the planet 10 x faster than CO2.
An endless supply of Methane equals runaway climate change and ultimately the end of our civilisation and chaos.
In 2018, China is still building more coal fired power stations, at home and abroad, cancelling out the good progress made by other countries.
Creating environmental art to help raise awareness of climate change and its consequences. Like many other artists who have seen the urgent message from scientists get lost in a busy world, I am endeavouring to remind people that it's time to change, now!
2014 - The End of an Ice Age.
The End of an Ice Age and the Dawn of the Age of Aquarius.
July 2014
The ice left to melt in the mid-summer heat of June, has now vanished into a pool of water on the stone floor of the bakery.
Its beauty and ephemeral nature causes one to miss the sculpture like a child that needs constant attention to keep it healthy.
Imagine our planet where the ice has gone and in its place, more water than has ever been seen before. A 200m sea level rise across the planet.
The stunning beauty of nature in the ice sculpture has brought me to the conclusion that the ice and its ephemeral qualities need no help from me to convey the tragic message of climate change and of the loss of ice on our world. The cracks and stretched air bubbles in the ice are quite mesmerising as the ice spins slowly in what appears to be a gravity defying state. In the same way that the flickering of flames in a log fire capture the soul, the ice turning gently on its axis has already captured every soul that has stared into its heart.
Because of its natural beauty, I have come to realise that it does not need a CO2 gas atmosphere to get the message across. It could have been generated from within the ice but it would have compromised the ability of the ice to capture the viewer in exchange for a short lived show of mist.
The ice sphere has an elegant and poetic ability to place the viewer in a light state of trance, through its stunning natural beauty which has exceeded all my expectations. I created the ice sphere but nature and physics have created its overwhelming beauty.
To complement the ice sphere I have recorded its message to be played along side the ice sphere, whilst it still exists and once it has gone. The sounds are from the melting and cracking ice, recorded from within the ice sphere.
A haunting urgent reminder of the problems that mankind will face if we allow the planet's ice to melt and vanish due to our unsustainable use of fossil fuels.
Once the ice sphere has melted, the sound and video recording made will serve as a reminder of its beauty, lost forever.
The ice sphere can be seen and heard at the University of Plymouth's fine art show from the 13th June 2014, at the Bakery space next to the cafe for two weeks. Although I expect the ice will have vanished after the first day of the show.
Invited to enter an art design, for the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project, by David Buckland at Cape Farewell.
2014 Open Call to Artists
Art Commissions for the Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay
Cape Farewell have been working as cultural partners with the Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay energy power station. This ground-breaking project will be the world’s first Tidal Lagoon and the first power station that is also a social and scientific amenity for the city of Swansea. Additionally, it will produce abundant carbon-free energy.
There are two open calls for artists to submit proposals for artworks to be sited on the Tidal Lagoon.
Artists and sculptors have a unique role to play in envisioning what is possible for our future sustainable communities and the 'canvas' of the lagoon is a perfect platform to create works that embrace the concept of the Tidal Lagoon and champion it as a beacon of future possibilities.
Please help spread the word and forward this email to anyone you think might be interested. If you only have a few minutes, there is a video introduction to the project worth watching.
Major Sculpture Commission
Open to International Artists
An open call to international and UK-based artists for initial proposals for a major sculpture. Two shortlisted proposals will each receive a budget of£10,000 to enable further development of the proposals. We will announce the shortlist on 29th May at the Hay Festival.
Multi-Disciplinary Commission
Open to Welsh Artists
A call to artists based in Wales for initial proposals for a multi-disciplined artwork. We invite artists from all disciplines to apply, including sound, video, poetry, writing, light installation and dance. Three shortlisted proposals will each receive a budget of £5,000 to enable further development of the proposals. The shortlist will be announced at the Dylan Thomas Festival at the end of October.
How to Apply
See the Arts Commissions PDF for full details. For more information on the brief or to send your application contact Marente van der Valk at Cape Farewell.
[email protected]
Moa Statues
The Easter Island statues had a message that has become all to obvious to include them in the show. Al Gore has often repeated the fact that we could be witnessing the end of our civilisation, so I decided not to include them in the show. The beauty of the ice speaks for itself and will raise awareness of climate change on its own merit, without distraction.
In 2014, I explored the effects of climate change through paint and ice sculptures. Trying to use the elements involved in climate change to produce an Ice Installation. To date I have created an ice sphere that will emit CO2 mist in an attempt to mimic the climate change process. CO2 ice will be heated within the ice sphere causing the solid CO2 to produce an atmosphere around the sphere. The heat producing the CO2 will also melt the ice.
When a certain tipping point is reached the melting ice sphere will fall onto easter island statues signalling the end of a civilisation.
My art last year was a journey from a Mayan mystery to the physics and elements of the Earth and the Universe.
The Mayan culture of South America had a calendar that counted down to zero on the winter solstice of 2012, predicting the return of the Gods from the sky and the beginning of a new era. My work was initially inspired by this ancient culture and their astronomy. It led me to the real Gods from the sky, the near Earth objects called asteroids that visit Earth. My paintings are my first using oil on canvas and oil, pigment and bees wax on canvas.
Starting to look at the physics involved and how white light is split into the full colour spectrum much like the a meteor hurtling towards Earth pulled into our atmosphere by our planets gravity. Inspired by a moment that I captured with photography of white light from our Sun being split by a crystal.
The elements and physics of Earth and the Universe have shown themselves to be influences in all our lives without us truly taking notice. From the moon's gravity pulling our seas to create the tides, to water flowing down a plughole anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere. My glasswork is a journey of discovery of the elements and physics of the natural world and capturing a moment caught in time showing the effects of these elements on our world in stunning glass sculptures.
...