The 6th IPCC Assessment Special Report has provided us with literal deadlines. Global temperature has to be maintained within 1.5–2˚C of a pre-industrial era if we do not want to deal with the consequences of climate disasters. Reports presented at the COP26 Glasgow summit suggest that it is too late for some countries to lead mitigation strategies towards climate change. While most of the world turns a blind eye to this issue, it's only going to get larger and deadlier.
Many do not realise the immediacy of a radical response required to tackle such a problem. Many cultural and social factors have compounded their influence over time and shaped their ‘anthropological’ views. These include how we look at people outside our community, migrants, and our political preferences and biases. They don’t just reflect in our daily behavioural choices but also in shaping communal and national views. Amidst this turmoil of faith, people often feel paralysed and end up being bystanders to this emergency.
The first half of the project tries to analyse this crisis. It also identifies various persona groups that exist in this ‘ecosystem’ and tries to map their motivations and inhibitions to converse, if not act. Moreover, my research shows that ethical responses to this crisis in contemporary times generate different attitudes among individuals. Without a common conscience or shared concern, it is difficult to imagine public action against this crisis. The second half of the project explores the realm of public and interactive art to invoke awareness and possibly mass mobilisation against the climate crisis.
The project brief can be summarised as setting up the scope around climate emergency and experiments to nudge climate bystanders towards climate action and possibly mass mobilisation.
bystander, data sculpture, nudge, speculative design, UN SDG Climate Action
