tagged w/ Fairbanks
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I'll begin by saying I love Alaska and Alaskan's. They still continue to live in the frontier mindset, and are some of the toughest self reliant people I have ever met. When I first started working their as a naturalist I assumed something that any young naive do-gooder might consider, that people who live so closely with the land would also feel inclined to protect it. I wish I could tell you exactly what this piece is designed to communicate aside from getting attention.
The carving features an audio dub of Mr. Gore's Dec. 2009 Copenhagen speech suggesting the entire Polar Ice cap will likely disappear in the next 5 to 7 years, and urging us to upgrade our light bulbs.
As the audio is played, hot air will be emitted from the mouth of the statue, signifying the dangers to the environment of all types of man-made emissions. The source of the hot air will be the Ford F-350 flatbed truck on which the sculpture sits, with a 2” hose from the tailpipe of the vehicle, through a hole bored in the back of the head of the carving, and pumped out through the mouth of the statue. Local businessmen Craig Compeau and Rudy Gavora commissioned the frozen artwork, by world class sculptor Steve Dean.
“We invited Mr. Gore to Fairbanks last January (one of the coldest in decades) to debate his planet-melting theories."
Is anyone else scratching their head on this one? I'm stumped. I guess the thinking is that because it is still freezing in Fairbanks the rest of the world isn't changing? Or are they wishing that Gore had urged people to take more action than just changing their lightbulbs?
I'll give them points for the following though (even if it is a rip off of the contest to guess when the ice on the Tanana River breaks up).
In conjunction with the release of the new statue, Compeau has incorporated a “Local Warming” contest that will raise money to provide warm winter clothing for homeless Fairbanks residents. The contest asks participants to estimate how many hours the Ford F-350 would have to run (at idle) to equal the carbon output of a round-trip visit from Tennessee to Copenhagen aboard a Lear jet. The winner will receive a warm Ski-doo winter jacket, long underwear, thermal socks, and an Al Gore Bobblehead doll.
Meanwhile, Vanguard's Adam Yamaguchi travels to Alaska to witness some of the dramatic effects of climate change:
Have you spotted an eco art object you think should be highlighted? Email me at llamb@current.com
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I'll begin by saying I love Alaska and Alaskan's. They still continue to... more
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leahl
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added this
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2 years ago
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Fairbanks-based musician John Luther Adams is profiled in Alex Ross' recent contribution to the New Yorker ("Song of the Earth: A composer takes inspiration from the Arctic", 12 May 2008). John Luther Adams -- not to be confused with John Adams who scored the modern opera "Nixon in China" -- has produced an installation for the Museum of the North at the University of Fairbanks in Alaska that culls geologic, seismic, and meteorologic data into a computer and processing the feed as light and sound. Adams' work “The Place Where You Go to Listen” is not merely an ambient work, but a piece that processes information organically and in real-time. And the title refers to Naalagiagvik, a coastal sliver on the Arctic Ocean, cited in an Inupiaq legend. Check out Ross' profile of John Luther Adams, his music, and projects.
Image credit: John Luther Adams says, “My music is going inexorably from being about place to becoming place.” Photograph by Evan Hurd. Courtesy of the New Yorker.Fairbanks-based musician John Luther Adams is profiled in Alex Ross' recent... more
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From a little town in Italy to Alaska .
The Felice Pedrony 's story , that discovered gold in Yukon river and founded the city of Fairbanks.
From a little town in Italy to Alaska .
The Felice Pedrony 's story , that... more
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Explosive new video blasts the justification for Alaskas current aerial wolf hunting program and rallies voters to end it. Using testimony from Alaska Department of Fish & Game staff, a master hunting guide, and Board of Game members, this video exposes the fallacy behind Governor Sarah Palins claim that predator control is based on sound science. Declarations that the program is for the benefit of subsistence hunters are shattered with documentation showing that sport and trophy hunters take up to 73% of prey in areas where aerial wolf hunting has taken place. End Aerial Wolf Hunting rallies support for H.R. 3663, legislation now being considered in the U.S. Congress which will close the loophole in the Federal Airborne Hunting Act that has been exploited to allow this practice to continue. Five years in the making, this video exposes the truth about the stranglehold the hunting lobby has on wildlife management in Alaska.Explosive new video blasts the justification for Alaskas current aerial wolf hunting... more
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