Art meets science to talk climate change

By August 6th, 2008

Canadian artist Peter McLeish will address aspects of his video art-work interpretation of what climate change could mean to people living in the polar regions during a national tour in support of CSIRO/Cosmos Magazine’s SCINEMA Festival of Science Film.

Entitled Polaris Terrarum (from the Latin, Stella Polaris, meaning ‘Pole Star’), the multimedia video employs images shot from high-altitude aircraft and the Space Shuttle to explore the psychological effects of climate change.

“When seen from above, there is a disturbing response we feel for our shrinking ice fields,” Mr McLeish says.

As part of National Science Week celebrations, this year’s SCINEMA Festival of Science Film will play in 120 towns across Australia.

Mr McLeish is a Montreal-based painter, multimedia artist and film-maker whose work has appeared in museums and art forums internationally, including: Chicago’s Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Milan’s Spazio Oberdan, Argentina’s Neuquén Museum of Fine Arts and the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. 

“When seen from above, there is a disturbing response we feel for our shrinking ice fields,”

Mr McLeish says.

He visited Australia in 2004 to speak at the SCINEMA Festival about his work on Red Sprites (lightning that travels up rather than down) – his previous science-art collaboration with the ill-fated Columbia Space Shuttle crew. 

Mr McLeish will present addresses at the following venues:

  • Aug 12 – University of New South Wales, Sydney
  • Aug 13 – University of Melbourne & RMIT, Melbourne
  • Aug 14 – LaTrobe University, Melbourne
  • Aug 15 – Discovery Science & Technology Centre, Bendigo
  • Aug 16 – Ballarat Observatory
  • Aug 18 – University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba
  • Aug 19 – Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
  • Aug 20 – College of Art at Griffith University, Brisbane
  • Aug 21 – Amazing World of Science & ANU School of Art, Canberra & Australian Museum, Sydney
  • Aug 23 – South Australian Museum, Adelaide

His tour is supported by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research through its National Science Week program.

Media Note

Mr McLeish is available for phone interviews – please call Cris Kennedy on 61 2 6276 6225.

Download image at: Art meets science to talk climate change.

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Fast facts

  • Canadian artist Peter McLeish will address aspects of his video art-work interpretation of what climate change could mean to people living in the polar regions
  • Entitled Polaris Terrarum (from the Latin, Stella Polaris, meaning ‘Pole Star’), the multimedia video employs images shot from high-altitude aircraft and the Space Shuttle to explore the psychological effects of climate change