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13. Climate Action
Vibeke Nørgaard Rønsbo
Working title: A Tab of the Sky 
INTENTION
ARTISTIC INVESTIGATION

I see the 13th world goal as very fundamental, because without a changed view of our way of living on earth, our future is challenged, and thus all other goals are a little indifferent. Since 2016, an old Native American proverb has been central to my view of the climate crisis, a proverb that contains a very different humble approach to the earth's resources than that which our growth society has practiced in extreme form, well since we began to cut down forests to increase the cultivation of the earth and later created industrialization

 

Today, the globe responds again, calling for a new view of nature, and here I think there is inspiration to be found in the old natural people's understanding of their life on earth, as part of something that extends beyond ourselves. The Indians lived by the motto: 'We have not inherited the land from our ancestors, we have borrowed it from our children'. With this, it must be treated gently, carefully  and conscientiously, in a belief in and listening to that there is probably a greater order. Halfdan Rasmussen talks about the same thing in his' Something about power ',' - I think a child lives deep inside.  

If we can change our view of nature, I think in my naive head, that agenda will end where we in the rich part of the world froze and let the poor part of the world pay.  

During the corona crisis, it has been possible to measure significant decreases in CO2 emissions over the big cities, but nevertheless a recurring lament has been heard when we could get out to fly again.  

But as the world goals are very much connected, I have chosen in my contribution to '17 goals on my mind 'to go closely into the elements from which the climate crisis is defined.  Man-made global warming, which is accelerated by deforestation, forest burning and the melting of ice at the poles. This results in that  the sea surface increases and thus warming, as the CO2 layer (man-made pollution) prevents radiation. The sea as the mirror of the sky and the sun grows and grows in distribution, and thereby the warming increases, - an accelerating development.

I do not yet know the curve of how the ice melt is accelerated, but time and time again scientists are adjusting the narrative and so far only with it  conclusion that the speed is higher than previously expected.

About the work

My sketch is based on an admiration for just one of nature's fine forms, which has long inspired man and defined the golden ratio. The golden spiral is an expression of how nature in many contexts unfolds, it is found in spiral galaxies and nautilus shells and many other conditions in the wild.  It is mathematically close to a logarithmic spiral growth, which, however, has several different angles, which are usually very different from the golden spiral. This pattern allows the organism to grow without changing shape.  

My idea is to make a spiral 'gutter stone' in the landscape, 10 - 30 cm deep, perhaps with varying widths, if it opens up the possibility of playing with the speed of the water. The bottom of it must be paved with slate in reasonably large slabs. 

As you approach the plant, the gutter lies dry, like dried-out desert surfaces. But best as you stand and look down into it, a sensor activates water to flow just as quietly beyond the slate coating of the gutter. And while one hopefully marvels at it, the clouds of heaven are revealed as a reflection down in the water of the gutter. Suddenly the amount of water increases and the speed of water in the channel increases, perhaps small waterfalls are inserted along the way. Finally, after a while, the water seeps away from the gutter, which again dries up again.
 
 
Model of idea

When the water flows over the black slate, the sky is brought down to earth - like a mirror. In this way, the project will mimic the sky and the changing light mirror of the weather over the sea, which may just be breathing in spiral waveforms. In this simple magic, it is my hope that the viewer will experience a similar fascination and immersion, - a being who puts us in touch with the core and value of life. But also reopen the eyes to the magic of heaven and nature, - and thus strengthen the changed view of nature that the globe calls for.

In the encounter with running water in streams, one is often brought into a self-destructive meditative state of mind, which can break down the divide between adult and child in a common fascination or play. My dream is that all ages will find peace to reflect on the work, sit with their feet in the water or play with ships there and watch their struggle with the water as it grows. This is how I want to create a work that is more than a sculpture, a work you can interact with, use, play with and rediscover the child deep inside.

But where my project completely ends is still open.


During design and realization, I hope to work with local landscape gardeners and contractors and hopefully Fokdal Springvand A / S.  
 

©Copyright
Sky fall lake.jpg
Vibeke Roensbo A-board 700mm with U3-1 250x500mm Sky fall.jpeg

Photo: Sketch by Antti Tenetz Copyright

Photo: Sketch by Vibeke Nørgaard Rønsbo Copyright

Goal

Based on goal 13, I want my work to alternate between running water and drying out on the one hand and earth and sky on the other. Between earth and sky, I think of the atmosphere in which all the climate abnormalities are created.  I am somehow fascinated by making a work that takes a tab of the sky down to the ground by mirroring in water.  Simplified a bit, you could say that with increased water levels and more extreme rain with hanging heavy clouds, the sky may be falling, - lose weight on the ground.  

The climate unfolds in the atmosphere between earth and sky, and in a more symbolic sense, it is perhaps absolutely crucial for humanity to seriously reach a realization that 'there is more between heaven and earth' than human life. - That we open our eyes to nature's more poetic secrets, to find here joy and respect in 'life' and its diversity. I strongly believe that the demythologization of our worldview in a blind trust in science has also contributed to man's misguided notion of the special privilege of his own species to rule and shape and subjugate nature.

I hope my work will expose the feeling that there is more between heaven and earth.  

To understand the world / life as 'in a mirror in a riddle', by humbly relating to the fact that we are only on the way to understanding all life and the secrets of nature. That much is still a mystery.
 

Vibeke is preoccupied with physical and electronic traces of lived life, and the clash between memory and actuality, between absence and presence.

 

The archive, the collection, the document and found / saved objects are often a source of inspiration and material in her work.

 

She seeks to create open comments about our time that can expose existential reflections on time, memory, being, humanism and sustainability. 

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Vibeke Nørgaard Rønsbo

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