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