Canary Project is an organization that brings to attention a major problem most of us witness but don’t take action to resolve. Canary Project visualizes climate change through different artistic mediums and presents it to diverse audiences and the media in order to bring constructive solutions to this major threat. In this interview with Edward Morris, the Founder and Executive Director of Canary Project, you will see that this organization already has so many projects lined up on their 2008 agenda to bring awareness to Climate Change. We hope, wherever you are in the United States, you will get a chance to stop by one of these events and notice the change. “Art has the capacity to penetrate received notions, generate media attention and create lasting visceral impact - all of which can be a more effective catalyst to action than mere rational apprehension.” Edward Morris --the interview-- F.A: What is the mission of Canary Project, and how do you integrate art into environmental and ecological issues? C.P: The mission of The Canary Project is to produce visual media, events and artwork that deepen public understanding of climate change and energize commitment to solutions. We look for projects that have the capacity to speak simply and directly to diverse audiences, as well those that challenge viewers to engage in deeper reflection on the issue. We are particularly focused on projects that leverage data or science in some way. Correcting misconceptions about climate change and mobilizing society to build a more sustainable future will require a concerted effort from all sectors of society. We believe art has an important role to play in this process, particularly when executed in collaboration with other disciplines and when benefiting from the organizational strengths of an entity such as The Canary Project. Art has the capacity to penetrate received notions, generate media attention and create lasting visceral impact - all of which can be a more effective catalyst to action than mere rational apprehension. F.A: Can you tell us about your upcoming projects and which issues they are focused on? C.P: We are focused on climate change for the foreseeable future. Our upcoming projects include: -- 40°, 73°: Works at the Intersection of Art and Ecology: The Canary Project seeks 3 artists to create site-specific works in Brooklyn (40°N, 73°W), that engage the public in experiencing global ecology, locally situated. The work should resonate with specific places throughout Brooklyn and the daily lives of the people that live there. The public works will be implemented during a one- to three-week period in late September to early October 2008 and will culminate in a presentation at the Old American Can Factory, in Brooklyn. Following the artists’ presentations, a panel consisting of community leaders, arts practitioners, and local ecologists will respond to the work. Stipends will be awarded the winners of a juried competition. -- An exhibition at Colgate University opening January 31, 2008 that features Susannah Sayler’s large-scale color photographs along with video and installation work by Jon Santos. -- Other exhibitions of the photographs, including at Wave Hill in New York City (March 2008) and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (March 2008) -- A design competition for posters encouraging strong national and individual action on Climate Change. This is called The Green Patriot Poster project. The project was inspired by World War II posters. -- A continuation of the Increase Your Albedo project (see: www.canary-project.org/project_albedo_clouds.html and www.canary-project.org/albedo/). Our albedo pilgrims will be appearing at openings, parties and other locations throughout New York this summer. They will be wearing dresses designed by Jussara Lee and Annie Murdock, made from white shirts used in our Albedo Cloud installations last summer. -- The opening of an open air public art space in the Meatpacking District called Cloud Space. -- A proposal for a large-scale public artwork in Chicago that will engage viewers in creating a light-show by riding stationary bikes. -- We are also looking at ways of incorporating more user-generated content and interactivity into our website. As part of that effort, we are looking at building a sound archive of interviews with people that are first-hand experiencing dramatic changes in landscapes. We are very much looking to develop more video in this context. F.A: How do you reach your audience? Can you tell us about the process you go through in order to display your artwork and videos? C.P: We work in such a wide variety of contexts that it is difficult to generalize. Mostly, we are approached by institutions that want to show our work. Other times, however, we simply install work in outdoor locations or do interventions in the public. We are very interested in user-generated content and some of the viral, file-sharing capabilities currently exploding on the web. It is a priority for us over the next year or so to develop platforms that allow us to build an archive of visual and audio archive regarding both the impacts of and solutions to climate change. Because we want to engage diverse audiences, we make a real effort to speak in the vernacular of our expected audience. We also want to speak in a vernacular appropriate to the institution where we are exhibiting. So that if we are in a science museum we are more educational and make accommodations for a younger audience. In an art museum, we have an opportunity to inspire a more contemplative experience. If show the photos on the sides of buses (which we have also done) we could make a bus ad. Straight ahead. We have also done presentations of the photos to kids, given them to non-profits, published them in magazines, etc. F.A: In your opinion, how powerful is the moving image, whether it may be film or video, in terms of getting your point across to the people who are unaware of many ecological problems that are threatening our lives today? And why? The moving image is how most people are accustomed to receiving information. As with any medium how much power it wields depends entirely on the way it is manipulated by the creator. We plan on incorporating more film into the project, but it is difficult to say what shape that will take at this time. Interview by Eren Gulfidan - www.filmannex.com/Eren%20Gulfidan