Vienna art exhibit tilts paintings in response to climate crisis
A museum in Vienna that climate activists recently targeted have responded with a new exhibit entitled ‘A Few Degrees More’. It features several paintings that have been tilted on their axis’ by several degrees, drawing attention to the fact that the earth’s temperature is rising rapidly and that more climate change action is needed to combat the issue.
Activists had attacked the glass screen that protects a famous Gustav Klimt painting. Now the new exhibit features 15 artworks, including those by Klimt and his fellow Austrian artist Egon Schiele displayed at a wonky angle. The desired effect is that it will highlight the fact that global warming has caused the earth’s temperature to rise by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times.
The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change conducted research that shows that global carbon emissions need to be halved by the mid-2030s if the planet is to combat the 1.5 degrees Celsius rise, which is a key aim of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Art historian Hans-Peter Wipplinger said of the exhibit: “We wanted to initiate something productive, something communicative. That means conveying a message and not just in spectacular images (such as the protest) but by helping visitors learn about the situation and the various contexts of this global heating.”
