Not just any art, but permanent art!
California’s clean-air agency has commissioned the world’s largest permanent public installation of climate changed-themed art. Large-scale works by Allora & Calzadilla, Refik Anadol, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Noé Montes, Andrea Polli, and Tomás Saraceno will appear in the common areas of the California Air Resources Board’s new headquarters in Riverside, California, opening in late 2021.
The agency went through 600 applications before it made its selection of “world-class art by artists whose work embraces environmental and equity themes,†said board chair Mary Nichol in a statement. The works themselves will be announced in 2020.
“The conversation about climate change should always include the subject of climate justice,†artist Noe Montes said in an email. The photographer was inspired to apply for the project after witnessing the health problems experienced by residents in the Jordan Downs housing project in South Los Angeles due to air pollution from the logistics industry.
“Climate change affects marginalized, low income communities first and disproportionately,†he added. “My work will help to illustrate this fact through the stories of residents who are the most impacted.â€
Well, that’s interesting that the “marginalized, low income communities” would be mentioned. $2.4 million might not seem that much in terms of government spending, but, in the real world, how many of California’s ever-growing homeless population could be fed and housed with that money?
Homeless Encampments lining entire alley and streets in Oakland, California near West Oakland Bart Station – Growing every day for the past 1.5+ years – Follow for more videos #HomelessnessAwarenessmonth #homelessness #bayareahomeless #HomelessNotVoiceless pic.twitter.com/X794559PDP
— ???? Squire News (@GSquire86) November 6, 2019
That’s just one shot of California. Yet, they’re creating ‘climate change’ art.
Dedicated to combating the effects of air pollution and creating programs that fight climate change, the California Air Resources Board sets the state’s air quality standards and promotes efforts to reduce emissions. The new headquarters, being constructed through the $368 million Southern California Consolidation project, will feature a vehicle emissions testing and research facility on a 19-acre campus. It aims to be the largest true zero net energy facility of its type, and will give off zero emissions.
Think how they could help with $368 million.
