Chilean artist and environmental activist, Sebastian Errazuriz, has created a captivating 20-foot digital sculpture called 'blu Marble' which, last week, was projected upon a building in the middle of New York.
The installation features a live stream of Earth from a satellite in space and is designed to urge viewers to adopt a sustainable lifestyle and to be increasingly conscious of the serious implications of climate change.
Blue Marble is controlled by a bot — designed by Errazuriz and his team —which selects live photographs taken by a NASA satellite in space. The bot collects the photographs which are then merged (using specialist software) to create a video sequence which is projected onto a custom-created LED screen producing a live video sequence.
NASA’s satellite is used to study the Earth’s ozone and documents oceans, clouds and ice levels, whilst also measuring atmospheric gases and the level of energy our planet emits and absorbs. The satellite imagery used in Errazuriz’s design illustrates the ongoing changes (and challenges) our planet is facing whilst paying homage to the first image of the Earth taken in 1972 by Apollo 17. As visitors experience blu Marble — observing the planet changing from day-to-night — their mortality is realised, and consequently, they are prompted to recognise how their lifestyle impacts the planet.
To view more of Errazuriz’s work, visit his website and Instagram page.
