artworks and glacier works

Why is the ART World such a closed culture ? Such an incestuous industry ?? Pleasuring  and preaching, ususally, to people already in its sacred spaces. Conversations within converted circles have their limits. If communication of ideas in a cause is important.

Wouldn't have this work added so much to the  present KIAF ? Located, as it is, in the heart of the hurting Himalayas.

GlacierWorks‘ images serve to both translate climate change to the layperson and to provide valuable new data sets for scientists. Breashears is also convinced that the integration of his team’s images into interactive web-interfaces can transform global climate education. Through partnerships with imaging specialists, including Microsoft Research, the company is redefining the relationship between images and climate science.

“When people see these images, they don’t ask, ‘Is this true?’ They ask, ‘What does this mean and where are we headed?’” says Breashears from a Colorado mountainside via telephone. “Everywhere we go, we see the same message in the glaciers; they were once healthy and relative stable but now they’re under a lot of stress. People and scientists are going to have to look at the imagery and decide for themselves.”

Breashears has summited Mt. Everest five times. (Yes, five.) In 1995 he became the first American to reach the top twice. In ’96, he and his crew filmed the first IMAX footage at the mountain’s summit for the documentary Everest, using a camera modded to be lighter and shoot in subzero temperatures. During the filming of Everest, a blizzard killed eight climbers, two of which were Breashears’ close friends and his team aided in the rescue efforts. In ’97 he performed the first live audio webcast from the summit for PBS’Nova series.

But Breashears’ many larger-than-life accomplishments are potentially eclipsed by taking on one of humanity’s greatest shared challenges.

“The Himalayan Mountains are the biggest canary in the mine,” says Breashears. “Whether it’s the height of summer or the depths of winter, the Himalaya glaciers, which number between 35,000 and 50,000, provide a perennial flow of water to over a billion people. It’s going to tell us a lot about climate change.”

His team made like-for-like images from the exact same spots Mallory, Wheeler and Sella made their photographs. Comparisons show clear shrinkage in the glaciers, but even Breashears was astounded by the degree of changes – some glaciers have shrunk vertically by 100 meters. But two images – “data points,” as Breashears refers to them – are not sufficient. A legacy of repeated visits and acquired data is the hope.

http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2012/12/glacierworks-everest/