Lorenzo Quinn, Italian
Support, 2017
This photo shows Italian sculptor Lorenzo Quinn’s Support, illustrating the rising sea levels in Venice as the so-called “floating city” sinks. Quinn’s work demonstrates the Venetian people's desperation and difficulty in protecting their home as it continues to sink several millimeters yearly without a solution. The work symbolizes a human underwater, probably drowning, but instead of saving themselves, they are holding up their city to their own detriment. As people continue to contend with the devastating impacts of sea level rise, the question will be how much we prioritize our consumerism, our culture, and our lives. Label by Clarissa Cantacuzene
Found in Venice, Italy, this piece is of a pair of hands holding up a hotel. A seemingly feeble attempt to protect the structure from sea level rise, which is happening at an alarming rate of several millimeters per year. When first looking at this piece, it is hard to tell if the hands are holding up the hotel, or rather attempting to grab on to it. It could also be seen as a person underwater having one last attempt to clutch the structure, trying to get their head above the water that will forever be rising. A beautiful aspect to this piece is that it will forever be changing in appearance. As sea level rises, less of the statue will be showing, raising more alarm to how desperate we are as a people to find solutions. Label by Riley Kelley