The Village of Pinecrest and acclaimed environmental artist Xavier Cortada call for action on rising sea levels with new interactive project “Underwater HOA” exhibit to map the elevation of 6,000 homes and four major street intersections, making climate change and rising sea levels visible.
Scientists warn sea level rise around the world is accelerating, mainly due to melting ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland, and the annual rate of rise could more than triple every year by 2100, according to data published in the scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Xavier Cortada, a National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers Program fellow and current Pinecrest Gardens artist-in-residence, has known that since he first visited the frozen continent over a decade ago. Now in partnership with the Village of Pinecrest, he’s hoping to raise awareness and help others prepare for the inevitable through the launch of a participatory art project titled “Underwater HOA.”
Beginning Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018 and during Art Basel Miami Beach (Dec. 6-9), Cortada and the Village of Pinecrest will encourage 6,000 households to join a newly-formed Underwater Homeowners Association and place Underwater Markers artistically designed by the acclaimed environmental artist in their yards. Markers are numbered from 0 to 17 (the elevation range for the 6,000 households) to depict how many feet of melting glacial water needs to rise before the property is underwater. He will also collaborate with high school students to map elevation of four major intersections in Pinecrest by painting markers on the roadway.
“By mapping the impending crisis, I make the invisible visible,” Cortada said in a recent New York Times T Magazine interview.
“Block by block, house by house, neighbor by neighbor, I want to make the future impact of sea level rise something impossible to ignore. By asking participants to join the newly chartered group Underwater HOA, I hope to engage my neighbors as problem-solvers who will learn and work together now to better prepare themselves and their heirs for the chaos to come.”
In addition, Cortada will debut 60 untitled and never seen before paintings. The “Antarctic Ice Paintings: Global Coastlines and Underwater HOA” exhibition will be on display from Nov. 8, 2018 – Jan. 13, 2019 inside the Hibiscus Gallery at Pinecrest Gardens, South Florida’s Cultural Arts Park. The paintings represent 60 other coastal communities threatened by sea level rise, including Shanghai, Barcelona and Buenos Aires.
Antarctica has been on Cortada’s mind since he first traveled to the continent in 2006 with the National Science Foundation.
While there, he created a series of works on paper titled “Antarctic Ice Paintings” as featured by the Smithsonian’s American Art Journal, using glacier ice, sea ice and sediment samples provided by climate scientists working in Antarctica. Pollution traps heat in the atmosphere, causing these glaciers to melt and sea levels to rise.
“I learned from the scientists that the very Antarctic ice I was using for my work threatens to drown my city,” Cortada said. “Antarctica is coming to every coastline across the globe. Instead of burying our heads in the sand, let’s figure out how to combat climate change together.”
The inaugural Underwater HOA meeting is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019 in the Hibiscus Gallery at Pinecrest Gardens, located at 11000 Red Road. Residents will have the opportunity to meet Cortada and have the artist sign their Underwater Markers. At this meeting, the organization will elect officers and ratify by-laws. Each household will receive one vote with a photo ID and proof of elevation.
“Climate change will affect the future of Pinecrest and all of South Florida,” said Pinecrest Mayor Joseph M. Corradino. “Through Xavier’s extraordinary vision, he will use art to make a bold statement, create awareness about sea level rise and bring the community together in an impactful way. The Village of Pinecrest is proud to be collaborating on this participatory public art project. We have timed the launch of this project around Art Basel when the focus of the art world will be on Miami to bring attention to this important issue.”
To learn more about the Underwater HOA project, visit www.underwaterhoa.com. For updates, also follow @PinecrestFL on social media and use hashtags #Pinecresting #UnderwaterHOA
About Xavier Cortada
Xavier Cortada’s studio is located at Pinecrest Gardens, where he serves as artist-in-residence, implements his participatory art projects and oversees the Hibiscus Gallery. He is a leading environmental artist and was one of 12 artists recently featured on climate change in the New York Times.
