The Arctic Is consists of a short film by Mel Chin (L’Arctique est Paris) and a planned website that deliver a message from Inuit hunter and leader Jens Danielsen. Danielsen tells us of the startling changes he is witnessing in Greenland and lets us know these changes are already making their way throughout the world. Climate change is not some far away phenomenon. The Arctic drives the climate of the world. The Arctic is Paris. The Arctic is Des Moines. The Arctic is Lagos. The Arctic is Syria.

Chin’s film (co-produced by The Canary Project) debuted at International Center for Photography and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in the Winter of 2016 and 2017.

A broader release of the film and website are forthcoming.

The Arctic Is

Date:
2016

Artists:
Mel Chin (with original concept by Mel Chin and Gretel Ehrlich)

Producers:

The Canary Project, Helen Nagge, Phillipe Dugay, Corrine Weber

Exhibition History:
INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY, New York NY, 2017

SOUTHEASTERN CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, Winston-Salem NC, 2016

Grants and Support:
The Compton Foundation, South Texas Charitable Foundation, The Suzanne Deal Booth Revocable Trust, Josephine Merck, Greater Houston Community Foundation, Molly O’Connor Kemp, Paul and Susan Crutchfield, The Rauschenberg Residency