RED POLAR BEAR

Red organic watercolour on glacier Dimensions 90 meters by 60 meters.

I was selected to make a piece by 350.org for the project the “Earth as Canvas”. The motive behind 350.org is to raise awareness about climate change and environmental issues and to inspire humanity to protect the planet on which we live. 350.org selected eighteen artists around the world to make images on the ground that were so large that they would be visible from space. They were also big enough to be photographed by a satellite. The British band Radiohead were among the artists participating in the project.

The project took take place in late November 2010 just before the U.N. held COP17, their climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico. Most of the artists created images with people, giant images with up to 5000 people. Due to the cold weather in Iceland in November and how few we are, I did it differently. I decided to make my image on a glacier and to paint a Red polar bear with Red organic watercolour that would disappear. My wonderful team and I painted a Red polar bear on the glacier Langjökull with organic Red watercolour on one extremely cold day. We shot video and photographs of the image from a Helicopter.

I decided to draw a polar bear on a glacier as Polar bears and glaciers are synonymous with climate change in the northern reaches of the northern hemisphere and I wanted to draw attention to the plight they face due to climate change. The polar bears visit Iceland now more regularly by floating on icebergs and are extremely dangerous. Some believe that it is a consequence of climate change.

The global media embraced the project and images of the Red polar bear travelled around the world in the media, from Iceland to Europe, the Americas, all the way to China and Australia. The Red polar bear disappeared after one week. It blew away with the wind, but hopefully polar bears and glaciers will still be around for generations.

The TEAM behind the Red polarbear:
Concept and producer: Bjargey Ólafsdóttir, Visual Artist Co-producer: Charlotte Ólöf Jónsdóttir Biering, Art historian and environmental scientist
Kristín Martha Hákonardóttir, Fluid Dynamics Ph.D
Anna María Bogadóttir, Architect M.Arch
Haraldur Bjarnason, Special effects
Hjörleifur Kristjánsson, Glacier guide
Ásrún Mjöll Stefánsdóttir, Rock climber
Stefanía Ragnheiður Ragnarsdóttir, Rock climber
Stefanía Eir Vignisdóttir, Photographer
Arnar Ágústsson, Engineer
Jón Spaði Kjartansson, Helicopter pilot
Bergsteinn Björgólfsson, Cinematographer

Christopher Lund, Photographer
It was a collaborative effort, involving the time and effort and generosity of many. The project would not have been possible without Mountaineers of Iceland, Icelandair, Saga lm, 66N, Norður ug, Málning, Garðheimar and the volunteers who braved erce conditions to make it happen.

For more information:

The Red polarbear. Helicopter video: http://vimeo.com/17224808

Video from 350.org. “The Earth as Canvas” project as a whole. Clips from TV stations around the world.
350 eARTh: Climate Change Art Visible From Space http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-HnrMrQ6Tw&feature=youtu. be