The United Nations climate change conference COP21 saw a host of public art projects with an environmental message unveiled in Paris last month. Olafur Eliasson brought Ice Watch, a melting clock face of 12 ice blocks harvested from a Greenland fjord, to the Place du Panthéon.
Tomás Saraceno presented Aerocene, a plan to fly fuel-free sculptures around the world, powered only by the heat of the sun and infrared radiation. The Argentine artist and architect, who is undertaking a residency at the French National Space Agency (CNES), installed plastic foil prototypes in the Grand Palais and convened a symposium at the Palais de Tokyo, where he is due to stage a solo show in 2018. As we went to press, Saraceno was seeking volunteers to participate in a test flight this month in Bolivia.
Meanwhile, the US-based artist Sterling Ruby’s wood-burning stoves are being kept fed with logs in the courtyard of the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature beyond the summit (until 14 February).
