New artwork: The World has Gone Pear Shaped
The world has gone pear-shaped is a playful take on the dystopias of our time. It asks: Where are we now? What have we done to the earth? And what possible futures do we want to create?
Imagine a large-scale planet that is pear-shaped, provoking us to think. We’ve all seen images of devastated forests and empty lakes and rivers. Perhaps we’ve become immune to them. Instead, imagine that our actions had changed the physical shape of the globe.
The project highlights how humankind is altering the Earth by creating a 6-meter-tall inflatable sculpture of our planet morphed into a pear, using NASA open-source 3D high-resolution images of planet Earth—with many details of our beautiful planet visible.
Seeing Earth from space was a pivotal moment in history. The photos taken by astronauts are some of the most iconic images of the last century. Seeing our planet floating in space gave us a new perspective on ourselves. But we need a new perspective on the planet! Can we change our relationship with our planet and get it back into shape?
How would people react if the consequences of our ecologically destructive actions were visibly evident? Would that spur you into action? Can art open new ways of ‘seeing’ the world, which in turn might encourage us to adopt new ways of acting?
In a world full of bad news stories about the planet, this artwork attempts to pique our interest in a serious topic via an unapologetically attention-grabbing sculpture.
- Nottingham Light Night 2024 Friday 2 & Saturday 3 February 5pm-10pm. Find us at Sussex Street from 5pm to 10pm. Look for no. 3 on the map.
- Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 February 2024.
- More dates coming soon!
The project premiered atOct 2023 and then toured to I
Originally co-commissioned by Light Up the North The project premiere at Light Night Leeds and is touring to Nightfall , and Illuminate Oldham