The Power of Beauty - On the essential role of art in the fight against climate change

Alexis Frasz believes we use art to create meaning, and to define what we think is possible — or impossible. This is one of the reasons she’s exploring its role in addressing climate change.

A design for a solar-powered water distillation apparatus
submitted to the 2016 Land Art Generator Initiative competition
in Santa Monica.

Frasz, a writer and researcher, wants to build public support for tackling environmental challenges using art. She thinks that art can help people cope with the emotional toll of climate change, giving them a way to deal with their fear, grief and anger. It can also help people imagine a healthier, more sustainable world. “Arts and culture reminds us that we are makers and, in fact, we made all this,” she said.

When she first began thinking about climate change, she found that only a few others were looking at the problem through a cultural lens, so she and her colleagues set about conducting research to learn more about how art helps communities face environmental issues. Now, she and her team at Helicon, a consulting company she co-directs, are working with advocates to apply their research in the real world.

Read the NexusMedia story by Marlene Cimons - “The Power of Beauty - On the essential role of art in the fight against climate change.”

Tidal power among North Korea's new sanctions-proof energy technologies

Nampo, North Korea: Power-strapped North Korea is exploring two ambitious alternative energy sources - tidal power and coal-based synthetic fuels - that could greatly improve living standards and reduce its reliance on oil imports and vulnerability to sanctions.

Young joggers pass by as smokes billows from the stack
of the Pyongyang Power Plant in Pyongyang, North Korea.

Finding a lasting energy source that isn't vulnerable to sanctions has long been a top priority for North Korean officials. Leader Kim Jong-un used his New Year's address last month to call on the country to "radically increase the production of electricity" and singled out the coal-mining industry as a "primary front in developing the self-supporting economy." For the longer-term, he stressed the importance of atomic, wind and tidal power.

Read the story from The Age by Eric Talmadge - “Tidal power among North Korea's new sanctions-proof energy technologies.”