Students’ art project inspired by climate change

A local artist has been working with a group of postgraduate students to produce a piece of public art designed to spark a conversation about climate change.

Adrian Moule, a community artist who regularly collaborates with young artists and designers, has been involved in three creative sessions with Middlesbrough Environment City and postgraduate students from Teesside University.

They have been tasked with producing a piece of public art inspired by climate change in the run up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which takes place in Paris during the first week of December.

These workshops are a part of a town wide community engagement project called One Planet Middlesbrough: Creating Sustainable Communities, managed by Middlesbrough Environment City, which helps people live a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle and save money through simple behaviour changes.

The students, with guidance and advice from Adrian, have put together an interactive piece of work which questions what they would and would not like the world to look like in the year 2050.

Produced over three weekly sessions, the piece of art is a real collaborative effort involving students on courses including Fine Art, Future Design and Digital Design.

The project was also an opportunity for the masters’ students to work together on a project which can draw on international influences as those involved have a diverse background, originating from the UK, Russia and China.

Rachel Dodd, who is studying MA Fine Art, said: 'It has been a great opportunity to work across disciplines and with students from different countries, with different experiences.

'We started off talking about how we saw the world in 2050 and the ideas of what we would and would not like to see and these ideas have informed the artwork. It has been a fantastic project with Adrian offering advice and guidance along the way, but allowing us to work freely with no boundaries.'

Adrian graduated from Teesside University with a Fine Art degree in 1997 and went on complete an MA Future Art in 2010.

He said: 'I enjoy working collaboratively with other people. I came into this project with some ideas but the art really evolved out of the conversations we were having about climate change.

'It has been really interesting to re-engage with the students at Teesside University and all of the new facilities.'

Joe Dunne, from Middlesbrough Environment City, added: 'These workshops have given us the chance to raise awareness of climate change and how the decisions made in Paris will effect young people of Middlesbrough, and to polarise our thoughts towards a vision for a sustainable future.'

The artwork will be displayed in the Constantine Gallery at Teesside University from 1 to 11 December. People are encouraged to view the artwork and provide feedback and they can also tweet their thoughts on climate change and how the world will look in 2050 to @OnePlanetMbro, using the hashtag #BoroParisPledge.

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