Article Courtesy of Forbes
Media
By Lena Katz
Published December 10, 2018
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While most Art Basel participants and artists enjoy the beautiful weather and
sea views without a care, Miami residents can't help but observe the sea with
more trepidation every year. Last year, some were still recovering from the
hurricane. Miami Beach is still dealing with a nasty proliferation of thick,
smelly seaweed– brought in from the Bahamas by last year’s hurricane swells. Red
Tide came dangerously close to Miami Beach, and only by the grace of a higher
power did Hurricane Michael miss South Florida. So, as much as developers try to
pretend that climate change is a non-issue, anyone who’s here for more than a
party has spent some time worrying about Miami’s precarious position.
The Village of Pinecrest, an upscale residential neighborhood far from the
hectic Basel hot zones, would like to get visitors' attention via a
community-wide participatory art project entitled Underwater HOA. Through
markers placed by residences on the community’s 6000 houses and an art
exhibition by environmental artist Xavier Cortada, this typically
non-exhibitionist town is inviting the rest of the world to get a glimpse of its
future.
Obviously, the laws of physics and safety won’t allow for a town to submerge
itself in actual liquid or even any type of colored smoke for an extended period
of time. So visitors will not see a community that looks actually underwater.
Instead, each resident was invited to come pick up a marker, numbering 0 through
17. This number indicates the home’s elevation above sea level (data can be
found at eyesontherise.org/app – a partner in the project). Residents can also
make their own markers. Then, residents place the marker on the front of their
home to show exactly how many feet the sea would need to rise to submerge their
house.
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Pinecrest is one community that refuses to ignore
climate change.
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Underwater Markers have also been placed along 2.5 miles
of the village’s main drag, Killian Drive. Finally, local high school
students have created artistic Underwater Markers for placement on the four
major intersections in town.
The epicenter of the art project is Hibiscus Gallery at the Pinecrest
Gardens cultural park. Here, the artist and mastermind Xavier Cortada debuts
60 paintings under the exhibition theme Antarctic Ice Paintings: Global
Coastlines and Underwater HOA. (The thematic connection between Antarctica
and the Florida coastline, just to briefly explain, is that Cortada had his
revelation about sea level change while making art in Antarctica.)
“I learned from the scientists that the
very Antarctic ice I was using for my work threatens to
drown my city,” Cortada said. “Antarctica is coming to every
coastline across the globe.”
The exhibition will remain on display long past Art Basel,
until January 13, 2019.
However, the most meaningful thing about this project is
that it’s more than art. It’s also an eco-activism project
by and for the community, in partnership with Florida
International University’s Sea Level Solutions Center and
with University of Miami’s Abess Center for Ecosystem
Science. And the hoped-for outcome isn’t just to get people
to think. As the exhibition winds down, the inaugural
meeting of a real Underwater Homeowner Association will take
place – on January 9, at 7PM. On the immediate agenda: elect
officials and create by-laws. On the long-term agenda: Get
the community members, top university research programs, and
local officials discussing ways to face the rising seas..
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Each number indicates how many feet of elevation
protect a house from being submerged.
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“Climate change will affect the future of Pinecrest and
all of South Florida,” says Pinecrest Mayor Joseph M. Corradino. “Through
Xavier’s extraordinary vision, he will use art to bring the community
together in an impactful way.”
Hopefully the rest of Miami-Dade and all of Florida will follow this example
and take meaningful community action before another Art Basel goes by.
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