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UEL academic shortlisted in finals of prestigious Climate Week Awards 2013

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Plunge

UEL academic, Dr. Michael Pinsky, has been shortlisted in the finals of the prestigious Climate Week Awards 2013 in the ‘Best Artistic Response’ Category for his installation named Plunge, which was mounted on three London columns, the Duke of York Column, the Paternoster Square Column and the Seven Dials Sundial Pillar.

Lights were placed 28 metres above the current sea level as an extreme illustration of how cities could be submerged by water if the public continue with ‘business as usual’ carbon emissions. The installation was seen by half a million people across the capital.

Dr. Michael Pinsky says:

“As a child, I grew up near a reservoir in Scotland. On particularly hot summers, when water was in short supply, the level of the reservoir would drop revealing the spire of a church, the highest point of a village which was submerged for a secure clean water supply. This image of a submerged bell tower has stayed with me ever since. If we do not prevent the predicted effects of climate change from occurring, this will become the prevailing image of London, towers and monuments encircled by an ever-expanding Thames.”

The three monuments were selected as ones that were passed by every day by hundreds of thousands of people, from tourists who stop to photograph them to commuters who walk by every day without seeing them. Together, the Plunge monuments create an arc across central London, following the line of a future River Thames that will have swallowed up much of the capital in its wake. Plunge offered an opportunity to see the monuments in a new light and to make the public think about their place in the history and city of London.

The Climate Week Awards will take place in early March when the winner will be announced.

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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