| HOUSE WARMING consists of two metaphorical igloos, Ice Igloo, positioned outside the gallery and Coal Igloo, its indoor counterpart. Juxtaposing white with black, cold with hot, artist John Tagiuri uses extreme images to drive home the issues of climate change and human impact. Tagiuri views the traditional igloo as an archetype of sustainable architecture. Built solely of crystallized water, the igloo requires only human energy to build. It is small, easy to heat and is totally ‘off the grid.’ Once the igloo melts, it leaves no trace.
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| ICE IGLOO is an ephemeral, sacrificial structure, recalling Boston’s beloved (infamous?) ice sculptures. It is designed to gauge temperature fluctuations in Boston between the months of February and March 2008. Ice Igloo will likely provide a measure of how warm our winters have become, by melting at a rate commensurate with our changing climate. |
| COAL IGLOO highlights the reality that the burning of coal and other carbon-based fossil fuels is the primary cause of global climate change. Jet-black, in a stark white setting, the Coal Igloo jars our igloo pre-conceptions. It begs the questions: Do igloos still exist in our warmed over world? Could the extinction of the igloo herald drastic changes to our own lives and lifestyles? What is the connection between lifestyle choices and the melting of the polar ice caps, with the attendant destruction of animal, plant and human habitats?
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| COMPACT LIBERTY is a community outreach / empowerment project involving the use of photography and props. Members of different communities were encouraged to dress up in a Statue of Liberty costume provided by Tagiuri, and to hold an oversized compact fluorescent light bulb raised up like Liberty’s torch.
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| The project is designed to get people to cross over the line between art viewer and activist: to empower the “liberty citizen” and to put them on the spot. The photographs are on display in the Mills Gallery as well as in neighborhood venues.
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| The Compact Liberty participants have been recruited from neighborhood schools, businesses, and community organizations.
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| Each person posing for COMPACT LIBERTY will be given a free compact fluorescent bulb and a copy of their portrait.
Credits: Calumet Photography
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