2021
networked installation (toy taxidermy, custom electronics, real time data)
Courtesy of the artist
An ironic play on the classic coding exercise, “hello, world!,” Jason Livingston and Jason E. Geistweidt use electronic circuitry with real-time data to show the difference between the current temperature and the 30-year average in the four cities the polar bears represent, each one a player in global debates on climate change. With eyes that glow redder with the rise in global temperatures, the installation turns what is often made invisible--the infrastructure behind our ever-increasing data consumption--into a visual signifier of the impact of this data use on our climate. Goodbye, World! reminds us of our collective impact on the ecosystem, and that even our well-meaning attempts at connection can end up being yet another method of extraction without regeneration.
-Zainab Saleh, Making Strange Co-Curator