CLIMATE ACTION THROUGH ART

The Biggest Federal State You’ve Never Heard Of

Art can forge a different route to inspire climate action

Citizens of the Garbage Patch State. Photo via Garbage Patch State on Flickr

Stories about climate-related disasters are everywhere. Along with these articles are statistics, which show the less-than-stellar job we are doing of addressing the ongoing climate crisis. With the constant bombardment of numbers, there is a risk that we become desensitised to the figures, going down the route of becoming ‘doomers’ or worse, refusing to engage with climate-related news at all.

To counter this very real threat of constant tragedy leading to inaction, it becomes vital to use other routes to inspire as many people as possible to climate action.

This is where art comes in.

Art can highlight the ridiculousness of our situation

Last month, I participated in the Climate Reality Leadership Training, run by former US Vice President Al Gore and his stellar team. As part of this training, we heard from Italian artist Maria Cristina Finucci, the self-proclaimed president of the second-largest federal state in the world by area.

It’s called the Garbage Patch State and covers an area of nearly 16,000,000 square km across five regions…