Giant melting da Vinci artwork recreated on Arctic sea ice
Auckland 8/9/11: A giant version of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous sketch ‘Vitruvian Man,’ depicted melting from the sea ice
into the Arctic Ocean, has been constructed just 800 kilometres from the North Pole, as a call for urgent action on
climate change.
Greenpeace-commissioned artist John Quigley (1), travelling on board the Arctic Sunrise (2), made the massive ‘Melting
Vitruvian Man’ - the size of four Olympic-sized swimming pools - to draw attention to how climate change is causing the
Arctic ice cap to melt far faster than predicted.
The announcement of this year’s sea ice minimum, expected later this month, could mark one of the lowest on record (3).
Scientists say the sea ice could be gone altogether in the summer time within two decades (4), which would have grave
implications for human beings and the planet’s bio-diversity; The Arctic floating ice cap, at the top of the world, is
vital for all of us. It's the world's air conditioner helping to keep the global climate stable by reflecting 80% of the
solar radiation that hits it back out to space.
The Greenpeace icebreaker became Quigley’s floating studio, after it was tethered to sea ice at 81.45 degrees north.
Working in freezing conditions, in one of the most remote and challenging environments on the planet, Quigley was
assisted by volunteers from the Arctic Sunrise crew, using copper strips normally used to create solar panels to
construct the giant copy of da Vinci’s 500 year-old drawing. All materials were removed after construction and the
copper will be reused.
Speaking from the Arctic ice edge, John Quigley explained: “We came here to create the ‘Melting Vitruvian Man,’ after da
Vinci's famous sketch of the human body, because climate change is literally eating into the body of our civilisation.
When he did this sketch it was the Enlightenment, the Renaissance, the dawn of this innovative age that continues to
this day, but our use of fossil fuels is threatening that.”
Greenpeace expedition leader Frida Bengtsson, says: “The poles are the regions most sensitive to climate change on
Earth, and the Arctic sea ice melt is one of the most visible impacts of climate instability. To highlight the dramatic
changes taking place in the Arctic, Greenpeace has joined John Quigley on the sea ice to create this image, which
illustrates how our dependency on fossil fuels is tipping the balance of the relationship between nature and humans.”
Greenpeace New Zealand Senior Climate Campaigner Simon Boxer says: “This year’s massive thaw, which follows so soon
after 2007’s record melt, is a warning sign that the New Zealand government cannot ignore.
“If the Arctic’s ability to keep the Earth cool is lost it will trigger a state of runaway climate change from which we
will not be able to recover. We have ten years to make drastic cuts to our emissions, if this is to be avoided,” Boxer
says.
“Quite simply, this means that the Government must give up its obsession with fossil fuels, including deep sea oil
drilling, Solid Energy must bin its plans to mine lignite and Fonterra must stop using palm kernel and coal,” he says.
Quigley’s artwork kick-starts a month-long expedition for the Arctic Sunrise and her crew, which will see the ship
facilitate a scientific research project by scientists from Cambridge University, on an expedition to measure sea ice
thickness (5).
The US-based National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC), the main scientific institute studying Arctic sea ice extent,
has confirmed that already this year, sea ice has retreated to the third smallest area on record (6). There has been a
dramatic decline in both the thickness and the extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic over the past 30 years, driven by
a rise in global temperatures (7).
Notes for editors:
(1) Los Angeles-based John Quigley is an internationally known artist, producer and activist. His unique mix of human
installation and aerial photography brings together communities to create large-scale messages for the common good. His
work was featured in Leonardo Di Caprio’s film 11th Hour, and in 2008 he created a giant portrait of Nelson Mandela, as
part of the statesman’s 90th birthday celebrations in South Africa.
2) Designed as an icebreaker, the Arctic Sunrise has a rounded, keel-less hull that allows it to navigate through sea
ice. Greenpeace began using the ship in 1995, and it has been involved in numerous journeys to document the impacts of
climate change, as well as in support of the organisation’s direct action campaigns opposing Arctic oil drilling and
commercial whaling. In 1997, it became the first ship to circumnavigate James Ross Island in the Antarctic, a previously
impossible journey until a 200m thick ice shelf connecting the island to the Antarctic continent collapsed.
(3) The National Snow Ice and Data Center (NSIDC) http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
(4) The sea ice minimum is usually in mid-September. The National Snow Ice and Data Center (NSIDC) has suggested the
extent of the retreat in the Arctic’s sea ice minimum could rival 2007’s record low.
(5) Scientists Nick Toberg and Till Wagner of the University of Cambridge’s Polar Oceans Physics Group, Department of
Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/) are examining deformation of sea ice and how
this creates pressure ridges. They aim to establish the average ice thickness of 10 sites using power drills, snow-depth
measurements, and GPS readings. They are measuring the sea ice in the Greenland Sea, Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean.
(6) NSIDC directors’ interview with Gerard Wynn, Reuters, 1 September 2011
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/05/us-climate-arctic-idUSTRE78447A20110905.
(7) According to the NSIDC, as of September 2007, the September rate of sea ice decline since 1979 was approximately -10
per cent per decade, or 72,000 square kilometres (28,000 square miles) per year. The NSIDC says the decline is greater
and the rate faster than natural causes could account for.