Giant Hands Emerge From a Venice Canal to Raise Climate Change Awareness.

Italian sculptor Lorenzo Quinn’s massive new sculpture, 'Support,' is a stark warning on the impact of rising sea levels.

Lorenzo Quinn’s massive new sculpture, 'Support'.

Earlier this year, VICE covered a recent report on climate change that claimed, if we fail to slow down the rate of rising sea levels, Venice will be completely underwater in a century. This critical environmental issue is addressed explicitly in the monumental sculpture, Support, by Italian artist Lorenzo Quinn. 

The new work went up with this year's Venice Biennale and shows two enormous hands emerging from the Grand Canal to hold up the Ca' Sagredo Hotel, a 14th-century Byzantine-Gothic style building and a cultural landmark for the city. The two hands grasp a corner of the building in a position that suggests they are keeping the structure from sinking into the canal. 

Conversely, the hands can also be understood as a physical manifestation of the rising tides: erupting out of the water to dismantle and drown the hotel where it stands.

Read Nathaniel Ainley’s story in the Creators  - “Giant Hands Emerge From a Venice Canal to Raise Climate Change Awareness.”