Commuters along one of South London’s busiest rail links have a new piece of public art to contemplate thanks to children from Christ Church Primary School SW9, who are drawing attention to the effects of climate change.
Sitting on the roof top of local restaurant ‘Olley’s Fish Experience’, the 3 meter tall sculpture is made of salvaged wood and depicts a hand holding a pencil, drawing a red line that symbolises the threshold between life as we know it and irreversible global warming. A red line of fabric embellished with recycled flowers encircles the sculpture on the roof and continuing to the street.
The inspiration came from demonstrations at last year’s historic global climate change summit in Paris where huge red ribbons were held aloft over the heads of a moving procession of people to ‘draw a line to protect our climate.’
The installation of the sculpture marks the beginning of a project measuring air pollution near to the school; the aim is to collect scientific data which can be used to engage with the local council about possible ways to improve air quality and to explore how communities can come together to help address climate change.
Every child in the school, from 4 to 11 years old, has contributed to creating this dynamic sculpture with their artist in residence Hannah Littlejones.
Hannah explained: “This is about giving children an opportunity to make a large scale public art work to be a focal point for a dialogue about their environment, present and future”.
