The massive blocks—some six-feet tall—were transported via six refrigerated shipping containers from Nuuk, Greenland to Denmark then delivered to Paris by truck. The carbon footprint for Ice Watch came to 30 tons carbon dioxide equivalent, which is equivalent to 30 people flying from Paris to Nuuk, Greenland, according to an independent audit report.Art can do things like that. It can be complex, complicated, nuanced, ironic, boldly hypocritical, in your face, and head in the sand.... face in the ice.
December 5, 2015
12 free-floating icebergs — 80 tons of ice — caught and transported to Paris and arranged in a circle in front of the Pantheon.
On the occasion of the UN Climate Summit (COP21), the artist Olafur Eliasson hopes to "actually bridge the gap between the data, the scientists, the politicians and heads of state and how normal people feel."
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35 comments:
If this were really a crises, such a stunt could not even be considered.
Art can do things like that.
But this mass of ice cannot do any of things you listed because it is not art.
Well, it is an improvement over throwing virgins into volcanoes.......
I *literally* just walked by there and did not see the ice.
And it's 36 degrees today in Paris so I can't imagine they melted.
Did they haul them away (at the cost of more carbon) or what?
-XC
All of that transport is equivalent to only "30 people flying from Paris to Nuuk, Greenland"?
30 people on one plane to Greenland or thirty separate flights?
I read the PDF with their measurements here and still don't buy it.
A lot of assumption that ships and truck are refrigerated; their link for "Boat emission conversion factors" doesn't work.
Team Travel lists "4 people travelled from Berlin to Paris" but doesn't mention if any 'members' flew to Greenland to take part in the ice harvest.
Not going to spend the morning checking the numbers but it seems like things are left off the books.
Bring back the Guillotine.
I am Laslo.
The guy with his head stuck up a block of ice seems a perfect metaphor for The whole Global Warming issue.
Authentic ice, not that phoney kind that comes from refrigerators or commercial ice houses.
"If we don't do anything about global warming, we won't have these things to transport to Paris anymore. Where they'll melt."
30 tons of carbon dioxide? Pfffft. That's such a small amount compared to the total annual production of the whole world it's not worth even talking about. I know this because moron Mark and his side kick Madison Man have told me.
Now, the use of 100W incandescent light bulb? Good bye fucking polar bears.
Also: that, coincidentally, is the amount of ice Hillary goes through in a week with her Vodka.
I am Laslo.
Did they have the proper permits for this?
At least now, when We are told that the polar ice caps are dissapearing, we'll know where they went...
Maybe what we should do is transport the icebergs in troublesome spots to the places on earth where they will freeze and stay frozen. Climate change will be solved with better iceberg management.
Oh, no. The Polar bears will drown since that was the last ice left in Melting World according to AlGore's Fantasia.
Suggests "normal people" keep a cool head when it comes to all this heated global warming rhetoric.
They got me thinking about a glass of Lagavulin with one of those giant cubes of clear ice.
They got me thinking.
So, who paid for this nonsense? Were US tax dollars involved?
Those ice cubes didn't get there cheaply.
Come on, stick your head up that ice-hole.
They could be flying ice around the world and using it for irrigation if that's all the carbon footprint there is. They could fly ice instead of holding climate change conferences and other forms of leftist prayer - this beautiful garden growing delicious food in the heart of Somalia is in place of another heartless UN conference-blather held in Bali on the effect of drought.
Maybe what we should do is transport the icebergs in troublesome spots to the places on earth where they will freeze and stay frozen. Climate change will be solved with better iceberg management.
This made me laugh for some reason. I'm picturing a nice bureaucracy deciding where those icebergs should be moved from and to.
The movie is coming soon.
I missed it. This was from "The Onion?"
[You can't make this shit up!]
Any remaining ice will be donated to schools and community organizations to spread climate change education.
How generous.
I remember a plan in the 1980's to tow icebergs down from Alaska to melt in Southern California for the fresh water.
You mean, "art"? FIFY.
"I remember a plan in the 1980's to tow icebergs down from Alaska to melt in Southern California for the fresh water."
Me too. Or was it the 70s?
I'm remembering towing icebergs from Antarctica to the Middle East.
Somehow I always thought icebergs were bigger than this.
Re towing icebergs to So Cal or the Middle East, ice transport was a fairly big deal in the 19th century:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_trade
A 14 foot cube of ice weighs about 80 tons. One little baby iceberg.
Hahaha!
MadMan it could be a new world bureaucracy!
Alt house I don't remember that, but they were ahead of their time.
These blocks of ice are not what most people visualize when they hear the word "iceberg" -- particularly when you remember that 7/8 (is that the right fraction?) of an iceberg is under water.
Have there been any stabbings there?
http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/visual-arts/art-basel/article48069515.html
Gee. Paris is warmer than the North Sea. Who knew?
I'm remembering towing icebergs from Antarctica to the Middle East.
There were a few ill-considered proposals that may have made the cover of Popular Mechanics, some some such dilettante's publication (perhaps you're remembering a scene from Brewster's Millions) but real experience with icebergs and basic physics has kept the idea on the "hopelessly impractical" shelf.
Firstly, it's incredibly hard to get an iceberg moving in a controlled direction, even a small one. Since nine tenths of it's mass is below the waterline the resistance of surrounding water is immense. Assuming one can apply enough power to get it moving, how does one steer it? And what about braking? Fuggedaboutit.
Back-of-the-envelope calculations show that it's more efficient to melt Antarctic ice by just about any means you like and then transport the meltwater by tanker craft to whatever destination you like, than to tow the equivalent mass of ice there.
Moral: If you find yourself suddenly wealthy do resist any investment schemes involving icebergs.
Poem by John F McCullagh
Perfect ice cube recipe
A cup of cold branch water,
triple filtered, extra dry.
Bring it to a rolling boil-
in a moment you'll see why.
Pour it into ice cube trays
and place it in the freezer
This recipe is tried and true-
obtained from an old geezer.
Wait two hours, then remove
the ice cubes from their tray.
Notice they are crystal clear,
never cloudy cracked or grey.
Place some in a six ounce glass
making sure that none are wasted
then add a single malt and sip
the best ice cubes ever tasted.
In their science fiction novel "Oath of Fealty", authors Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven depicted icebreakers towing an iceberg from Antarctica to Los Angeles. They encircled the berg with plastic barriers to catch the melting water. Since fresh water is less dense than salt water, they could skim the meltwater off to provide fresh water to Angelenos.
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