Press release, 3 December 2009, about the COP15 Summit:

See this text on: www.aidoh.dk/GB-Alarm – Photos of the LED lamps: www.SevenMeters.net/7-meter-line

Red alarm in Copenhagen

Thousands of red LED lamps will mark a 7-meters water rising during the COP15 climate summit. The art happening Sevenmeters.net is a visualisation by Jens Galschiot, about how Copenhagen will look like, when all the ice of Greenland has melted away.

Galschiot and his volunteers, armed with long ladders, will this Saturday and Sunday hang up the LED lamps. They will start by the three big 'refugees' on Vejlands Allé / Ørestads Boulevard by the Bella Center. The 2,000 LED lamps are specially made in the artist’s workshop of bicycle lamps, which are soldered and glued together with extra batteries, so the will be able to blink constantly during the meeting.

The artist, who is well-known for his poignant - yet audience-friendly, art manifestations, got the permission to put up all of the blinking lights in a 7 meter line above daily water, around the lakes and in the whole channel area in the center of Copenhagen, and along the roads to the Bella Center. Galschiot hopes that the red blinking LED-lights will be some sort of an international grassroots’ symbol of the climate catastrophe.

With the happening Galschiot will visualise, that when the water rises and drought expands, there will be many places where people no longer will be able to stay. For example the isle of Amager, where the Climate Summit is held, will be 5 meters under water, if Greenland’s ice melts. If the ice of Antarctica also melts, the water will rise another 75 meters, so the peaks of the mountains will be in great demand, and there are not plenty of them in Denmark.

”With this manifestation I will highlight the climate crisis, and the fact, that it is not only a problem for the polar bears and the nature. The global warming may be a catastrophe for humanity. UN says that over 200 million refugees will be a reality in the next 40 years.

The refugees will trigger a giant demographic crisis, with risks of closing the national borders and beginning an ‘all against all fight, to protect our territory against the refugees, which our own CO2 leak has created. A frightening scenario that will put our humanistic and democratic civilisation under intense pressure, so that war and rise of totalitarian systems might be the consequence. This is the legacy that we will leave to our children!” Galschiot says.

At the venue of the climate summit there will also be red blinking LED lamps. Small badges will be given to the delegates, so they can use them as a silent indicator about how seriously they take the climate crisis.

SevenMeters art events (can be seen November 13 – December 19)

The mounting of the LED lamps is a part of SevenMeters.net by Jens Galschiot. His art installations highlight the climate issue from different angles, in cooperation with different players, such as peoplesclimateaction.dk and Illumenarts.dk. Especially focus is put on the consequences for the people on earth and the impact of the demographic changes for our society.

** The pulse of the earth (by Bella Centre metro station, the entrance to COP15). The 4½ high sculpture ’The Messenger’ counts the new climate refugees on a display, while the water graves under the metro are filled with human sized ‘Hunger Boys’. The entire installation and the actual metro are covered in red, pulsating LED-light, which follows the geological ‘pulse’ of the earth and is more than 300 metres long.

**’Freedom to Pollute’ (The big hill at Amager Fælled). A 6 metres high copy of the Statue of Liberty which sends out smoke from the torch.

**Wandering Refugees (by Bella centre) are three 10 metres high sculptures with copper faces, which represent African women with long dresses in screaming colours. They are standing on a savannah-like area reminding us of the female refugees in Sudan.

**‘Survival of the Fattest’ (in the water next to The little Mermaid). The sculpture confronts ‘The little Mermaid and the Danish self-perception with the goddess of justice of the real world.

**‘Balancing Act’ (at the Christiansborg palace square and other places) is 10 statues, each balancing on 7-15 metres high piles. They have been made in connection to the UN’s Decade of Education for sustainable Development (2005-2014) in cooperation with Eco-net.dk.

**7 meters line in Copenhagen (only 6-18 December) is a visualization of the 7 metres rising in the sea level if all the ice on Greenland melts. On a 24 kilometers long distance in Copenhagen thousands of blinking red lights mark the potential new water level in the height of 7 meters.

The sculptor Jens Galschiot (DK) is the initiator of SevenMeters.net. Galschiot is renowned for plenty of thought-provoking international art manifestations focusing on global issues:

*Contact to SevenMeters: Tel. +45 6618 4058 / +45 6170 3083, Fax +45 6618 4158

info: www.SevenMeters.net, e-mail: mail@SevenMeters.net

*Photos (free) of the SevenMeters art-events: http://SevenMeters.net/links/6/

*Professional documentary of Jens Galschiot’s art manifestations: Niller Madsen, Tel. +45 40 215 415, www.osrtv.dk

*Contact to Jens Galschiot: info: www.aidoh.dk , tel. +45 6618 4058 / +45 4044 7058, mail: aidoh@aidoh.dk