I don't have much more to say about them, some of them were interesting, most of them were not. My aunt had one on the front steps of the Field Museum, which is where their installation started. It then wrapped around the Field Museum park and down the path next to the lake.
Artist: Christopher Campagna
Humanity is responsible for the health of the earth, and energy-saving choices made each day directly impact the fate of the planet. Whether it's improving energy efficiency in the home, driving smarter, carpooling, becoming a more environmentally conscious consumer, or simply walking and biking more, helping protect the planet is easy.
Normally, the weight of the world rests on Atlas' shoulders, but the base of Christopher Campagna's globe shows how that weight actually belongs to each person living on this planet, not just one or two individuals. Humankind has the responsibility to care for the future of the planet collectively. Campagna has covered his continent in texture that resembles craggy rocks, as a sculptural "Atlas" holds up the weight of the world.
Artist: Phil Schuster
"Green collar" jobs are expanding in the fields of energy and water conservation, alternative energy, waste management, home efficiency, landscape management, and food production. Some of these jobs are a byproduct of the quest to turn local eyesores into neighborhood assets. For example, the Resource Center is redrawing the urban landscape with City Farms, which aims to convert abandoned city lots and spaces into working organic farms. In this program, youths and adults are trained to produce high-quality food for sale.
Phil Schuster's three-dimensional sculpture features reliefs assembled from castings of a pine tree and a six-foot-tall mold of a hand, created just for this project. Schuster's ongoing involvement growing exotic conifer seedlings at his studio inspired the piece, and their inclusion represents the artist's feelings about the importance of evergreen forms in our environment. The resulting globe is a stunning image that brings to mind the power of each and every human hand in the fight to save the planet.
Artist: Bernard Williams
Local, state, and national government can play a significant role in curbing global warming by adopting better energy policies. Political leaders can set the tone by establishing a national cap on greenhouse gases, higher fuel economy standards, dedicated high-occupancy vehicle traffic lanes, and Renewable Portfolio Standards, which require a percentage of electricity to come from wind or solar power. The government can also help by ensuring that public buildings are energy efficient, converting public fleets to hybrids, and purchasing green power.
Through his thoughtful selection and interweaving of words, Bernard Williams forces us to think carefully about the use of language on packaging and products, and about what we discard. Williams draws a parallel between the globe's myriad of textures made of recycled materials and the diversity among world cultures and beliefs—turning this "Word Globe" into a World Globe.
