Ice sculptures show the effect of global warming
By Hayley Mathie
Byung-Soo Choi, a Korean eco-artist, made a vivid statement yesterday, using
a chainsaw to sculpt penguins from ice. With water spraying metres in the air,
he emphasised the destruction of the Antarctic ice caps, appealing to onlookers
to act against pollution.
Based at the entrance to Nasrec, the display was entitled “Save our planet!
You and me”, forming part of a collection of protest exhibitions that Choi has
compiled since 1987. It was his fifteenth project and provided a tactile
representation of global warming and its effect on our environment.
Lee Seonwon, one of Choi’s volunteer helpers, described the display as a
“simple and easy way” to get this environmental message across. “Fighting
against the selfish mind” of the profit-motivated industries is important to
Choi, who protested against the destruction of the Saemangum Tidal Flats and
nuclear waste exportation on different occasions.
Choi believes that “nature belongs to all people and to all generations,”
said Seonwon, and stands against what he sees as the United States monopoly of
environmental degradation.
A theme throughout his work is the depiction of American presidents as
vandals of nature. Choi has been seen wearing a mask of George W. Bush on
numerous occasions and included an ornament of Bush with a nuclear bomb slung
over his shoulder in this display.
Funded mainly through donations, Choi sells posters and other artworks from
his collection to support his travels and buy raw materials for the exhibitions.
Dotted between the melting sculptures lay messages from the earth, among
them, “The earth is floating. Where is your home town?” Do you know where
your hometown will be in 30 years? -- Witsnews
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