Los Angeles-based photographer and filmmaker Osceola Refetoff is one of two artists featured in “Shifting Landscapes: Sea Level Rise in Los Angeles and Beyond,” on view at Building Bridges Art Exchange through November 7. The exhibition is the culmination of an artist and scientist residency that addresses climate change with a special focus on rising oceans, exploring the topic by connecting contemporary art, science, and technology. The project utilizes research and data provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Dr. Eric Larour, Manager: NASA’s Earth Sciences Division at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is the scientist participant in “Shifting Landscapes,” which also includes work by Argentinian artist Guillermo Anselmo Vezzosi. The exhibition is curated by Marisa Caichiolo, Building Bridges’ Executive Director and Founder. A talk with Refetoff and Dr. Larour, moderated by art critic Shana Nys Dambrot, is scheduled for Saturday, October 28 at 11AM.
For “Shifting Landscapes,” residents were motivated to engage with scientific concepts, methodologies, and findings, and translate them into thought-provoking artworks, creating the foundation for shared interdisciplinary learning and creative exchange. The aim is also to encourage public engagement, raise awareness, and stimulate meaningful conversations about the impact of climate change.
Curator Caichiolo actively encouraged Refetoff to investigate new materials and push his practice in new directions. He says, “Accordingly, I produced a video (my first in a decade) which is exhibited as a large-scale projection. I also created a sculpture from found materials, printed my first drone photograph, and experimented with machine learning (AI).”
The film Sea of Change (8 minutes, video, 2023) uses only images (no dialog), and combines drone footage from Svalbard near the North Pole, the immense fracking infrastructure in California’s Central Valley, and the environmentally challenged Salton Sea. The arctic images were all captured during a 15-day Arctic Circle Artist & Scientist Residency in 2022. These visuals were paired with NASA satellite images of the Earth and NASA graphics depicting various measurements of climate disruption. AI video based on Refetoff’s color infrared photographs (and seven shots created using prompt-based AI) are included to envisage future outcomes.
Also featured is Refetoff’s first-ever sculpture Plan B, a visual representation of projected sea level rise at Santa Monica Pier. A chair on the floor represents current sea level, with three chairs elevated on stilts to show future sea level estimates ranging from 0.89 ft to 8.77 ft. These NASA-based projections depict remarkably different outcomes for 2120, depending on future rates of human CO2 emissions. Refetoff then photographed the sculpture and fed the images through AI to create video clips that appear in the adjacent projection.
“Shifting Landscapes: Sea Level Rise in Los Angeles and Beyond” seeks to leave a lasting impact beyond the duration of the residency and exhibition, which is in keeping with Refetoff’s over-arching vision. He says, “It is no longer enough for artists to simply draw attention to environmental concerns. A better strategy is to pinpoint particular issues and associate artworks with specific measures that can be taken individually and collectively to improve local and global outcomes… My goal is to use aesthetic strategies to communicate clear messaging about how seemingly distant climate events are already disrupting our collective well-being both locally and across the globe.”
Pictured:
Moon Under Virgo Bay – Virgohamna, Danskøya, Svalbard – 2022 (c) Osceola Refetoff
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