Tower

With the support of The Puffin Foundation I developed Tower, an interdisciplinary installation, that reflects on climate change and the biblical story of the Tower of Babel – a story of greed and the value of cultural differences. Combining sculpture, video, archiving and community participation, the work highlights interviews of people of diverse backgrounds sharing their personal experiences with climate change.

The installation’s center piece is a sculptural, 4-meter tall tower constructed of welded steel cubes. Each cube frames plastic waste. Video interviews of people of diverse backgrounds sharing their personal experiences with climate change are projected on the plastic waste inside each cube. Community participation has been integral in making the video and for understanding people’s commitment in stopping climate change. The video interview process received support from The Amsterdam Collective: Casa de Cultura, Tohmajärvi Residency, Laajasalon opisto and Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning. The interviews have been recorded in the interviewees’ native languages to emphasize the global impact and responsibility in fighting climate change. These stories also reflect on the importance of understanding cultural differences and experiences when fighting climate change. The interviews are transcribed in English and are available on a website. They are linked to scientific evidence of climate change in the interviewees’ locations. The purpose of the archives is to juxtapose and support personal experiences with climate change with that of scientific evidence.
The tower sculpture was built with support from the Catwalk Institute Residency and NYU, and Tech Valley Center of Gravity. Funding was also provided by Finlandia Foundation National. The work was exhibited at Performance Mix Festival of New Dance Alliance at Community Center 122, New York, NY and at Jamaica Flux of Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning at King Manor Museum, Queens, NY in the summer 2021.

Climate change is a continued problem, and I continue developing the Tower project.