Finnish artists Pekka Niittyvirta and Timo Aho have created an installation that very clearly depicts part of our world that will find themselves underwater if climate change continues at its current pace.
“Lines (57° 59 ́N, 7° 16 ́W)” is exactly what it sounds like: a set of strings of light dissecting everything in its path, specifically two buildings and a fence. The piece shows that any space underneath the line of light would be underwater at a point in the future. The lights are set off by a sensor as soon as high tide starts to come in.
“The installation explores the catastrophic impact of our relationship with nature and its long-term effects,” Aho wrote on his website. “The work provokes a dialogue on how the rising sea levels will affect coastal areas, its inhabitants and land usage in the future.”
You can find the installation on Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. This particular area is especially susceptible to rising tides due to its location on a shallow archipelago. According to Designboom, the local Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre has ceased all development in the area due to the already-rising storm surges.
The artists also created a video to showcase the installation at work. It truly is an important visualization of something so catastrophic and so hard to difficult to envision. Check it out here.
