Author Archives: marshall reese

Voices from the Future

The public addresses what the future looks like. On September 21, 2014 we installed a 3,500 pound ice sculpture of the words The Future at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 23 Street in New York. This video is a sample of some of the public’s reactions to it.

“When you begin to witness the rapid changes occurring on the planet, rising temperatures, increasing droughts, the extinction of vast numbers of species, you think about loss and disappearance,” Marshall Reese says. “Ice is the perfect material for bringing awareness of what that kind of change means.”

We call the piece ‘Dawn of the Anthropocene’ to describe the effect of humanity on the Earth’s systems. The term comes from Nobel prize scientist Paul Crutzen. In his and other scientists’ view, humanity has entered an age when the power and impact of humans is as great, if not greater, than nature’s.

Sculpture Design – Nora Ligorano; Cinematographer – Ben Wolf; Editor – Marshall Reese; Music – Tree Laboratory; Ice Sculpture – Okamoto Studio

For more information:
Sound design: Tree Laboratory
Climate Action partner: 350.org

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Dawn of the Anthropocene Timelapse

Dawn of the Anthropocene Time Lapse from LigoranoReese on Vimeo.

Timelapse video of The Future melting at Flatiron North Plaza in New York City on September 21, 2014 during the People’s Climate March.

“As long as we continue to think of humanity as separate from nature, our solutions will be partial and their effects minimal. Social change drives climate change. We are both separate individual organisms and united by society and ecosystem.” – James Sherry, Social Environment post

Video – GoPro by Ben Wolf
Edit – Marshall Reese
Sound – Gyorgy Ligeti, Poeme Symphonique for 100 Metronomes

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Building The Future

Here at the Flatiron – building the Future with Regen, Luke, Shintaro, Nica and Libby.

We will unveil the sculpture at 10 AM. Very exciting day and an emotional one.

It’s been hard to wrap our heads around the seriousness of this action – melting the future.

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Ars Longa



Carving F at Okomato Studio

In many ways our present is future to the past.

The changes we’re seeing in our world stem from the rapid growth and expansive trade during the post-war era. Predictabilty of seasons and climate has lost its validity as the weather turns anew. Much of this unpredicatability is based on past human actions driven by deforestation, industrialization, pollution and population growth.

What is the future from such a vantage point – how can we, as artists, stage a symbolic action to encompass the idea of change? Even of thinking that the future may be lost? For many years, we’ve made artworks with extended duration and open form. These pieces can last several hours and even though they have a beginning and end, they have an ability to be open.

In the case of the ice sculptures, they go through an incredible metamorphosis from solid to liquid. We know they will disappear, but we don’t know how they will do that. What letters will vanish first or even the length of time it will take for them to melt away. They have an astounding sense of physicality, which much of us in our daily lives are largely divorced from; they have weight and scale, temperature and a sense of fragility.

Since they exist in time, there’s the need to capture their transformation and for that we use video, digital photography and other tools. The question remains: how do we enlarge their presence? How do we expand the socius of the sculpture to other audiences?

Inspired by Nam June Paik’s live TV and the pioneers of video art with closed-circuit video systems, today we’re using the internet and streaming to recapture and transmit the live event – the disappearance of the future.

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Hot of the Presses

Just finished printing this beautiful 18 x 24 inch full-color offset broadside for the Dawn of the Anthropocene Future ice sculpture this Sunday, September 21.

We’re giving the poster away for free during the event from 10 AM to 10 PM.

As the Future disappears, we felt the need to leave behind and give a message to inspire others for continued commitment to solving the climate crisis.

We found a wonderful passage from Rachel Carson, author of the pioneering book Silent Spring which ignited environmentalism and a statement from Rebecca Solnit on the importance of amplifying individual actions into the power of many.

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The Future In Ice – Launches 9.21.14

The Future

Dawn of the Anthropocene Rendering

On Sunday, September 21, 2014 we’re launching Dawn of the Anthropocene a 21-foot wide ice sculpture weighing 3,000 pounds of the words “The Future.”

We’ll be filming and photographing the temporary monument as it melts away and will stream the video live on this website meltedaway as well as provide the video for other organizations to embed.

Journalists, poets and writers will be participating in short term residencies throughout the day.

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New Ice Sculpture NYC September 2014

Dawn of the Anthropocene

On the morning of September 21, 2014, we will install a 3,000-pound ice sculpture of the words The Future at the intersection of Broadway and 23rd Streets at Flat Iron North Plaza in New York City. This public art work coincides with the U.N. Climate Summit and the Peoples Climate March to underscore the necessity for immediate action to confront global warming.

We plan for The Future, measuring 21 feet wide and 5 feet tall, to melt away. During this process we photograph and film the installation’s disappearance posting it on the internet in real-time. This event overlaps many art forms, it’s part sculpture, part installation, part performance, and an internet media event. But most of all, we make art for social change installing temporary public sculptures to mark important historical events. The Climate Summit is that and more.

We’re calling the piece, Dawn of the Anthropocene to describe the effect of humanity on the Earth’s systems. The term comes from Nobel prize scientist Paul Crutzen. In his and other scientists’ view, humanity has entered an age when the power and impact of humans is as great, if not greater, than nature’s.

When you begin to witness the rapid changes occuring on the planet, rising températures, increasing droughts, the extinction of vast numbers of species, you think about loss and disappearance. Ice is the perfect material for bringing awareness of what that kind of change means.

This project follows our earlier ice projects which we call “temporary monuments.” In 2008, we installed ice sculptures of the words Democracy at the political conventions, Economy on the 79th anniversary of the Great Depression, and Middle Class in 2012 in Charlotte and Tampa. (World Policy Institute.) These ice sculptures materially underscore the impact of political and social ideas that often escape the public’s attention.

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