CO2 Now

by Michael McGee
August 19, 2009

When I think of my carbon footprint, I see a five-toe imprint in warm, golden-brown sand.  I sense more comfort than discomfort, and a space that can fill a size 11 shoe.  When it comes to a person's carbon footprint, there is something unnatural about thinking it is much larger than the size of, well, a person's foot.  It might also be that I have never confronted the true size of my carbon imprint.   

For those who at least sense the importance of  understanding our personal and global emissions, a new art exhibition,CO2 CUBES , is about to  help us see and sense what is not visible to the naked eye.  Are you ready? 

Forget shoe sizes and toes in the sand.  Imagine a cube 8  meters by 8 meters by 8 meters...or 27 feet by 27 feet by 27 feet...for just one person every month.  This is a metric tonne of greenhouse gases.  If you live in the industrialized world, this is the probable scale of your monthly carbon output.  It's bigger than a large elephant and a large room, in total.      

As I write this, world-renowned artists are stepping way up to provide change-inspiring designs for a collection of cubes big enough to hold a metric tonne or carbon dioxide.  Millennium ART is delivering the huge, cubic works to iconic locations around the world.  In October:  United Nations headquarters in New York.  In November: Kyoto, Japan.  In December:  Copenhagen, Denmark. 

The CO2 CUBES exhibition aims to help generate broad awareness about the importance for 192 countries to "seal the deal" at the UN climate conference this December in Copenhagen.  Yes, our greenhouse gases are invisible, and CO2 CUBES is designed to introduce the public to the monumental scale by which we generate carbon dioxide and contribute to climate change.  More than a stationary exhibit, CO2 CUBES will be an interactive multimedia platform that networks people around the planet to generate public dialogue and action. 

This international contemporary art exhibition is being presented in partnership with the United Nations Department of Public  Information,  Millennium ART, the Baum Foundation, and many participants.  Updates will be provided at Millenium ART, CO2Now and other fine websites at a computer screen near you. 

>>>  CO2 Cubes & Millennium ART

>>> About Millennium ART

>>>  How you can participate in the CO2 Cubes Exhibition