Prometheus Fire: Seeing and Sensing Climate Change

About

The works of art and science brought together in this exhibition, at JSCBB NW stairwell and lounge, highlight the sensory experiences of the artists in relation to climate change. They bring movement, sensation, and direct contact with climate change and human impact into the public's purview. The exhibition hopes to spark dialogue about the ways we interpret, represent, and embody climate change.

The myth of Prometheus serves as a cautionary tale about humanity's destructive use of a powerful element, particularly in the context of climate change. The concept of "Prometheus fire" highlights the duality of fire as both a gift that enables human progress and a destructive force that now imperils the planet through human-caused actions. As humans evolved from controlling fire for survival to harnessing it for industrial purposes, most of humanity inadvertently set the stage for a global climate crisis. This echoes the fate of Prometheus, a nearly 5,000-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine felled in 1964 by a graduate student studying past climate events. While the tree's felling was for research and not a direct act of climate destruction, its ancient life and the student's purpose implicitly connect it to the ongoing scientific efforts to understand and address the climate crisis that the broader Promethean myth foreshadows, making both figures symbolic of humanity's impact on the planet.

For easy entrance, arrive at the building from Discovery Drive. Park at Parking lot 543 NW Stairwell, 2nd floor