Winter is Alive- sneak peek still

So excited to see the premier of " Winter is Alive" this Thursday at 9:30pm on the Garver patio following the Silver Lining Awards. What an experience it will be seeing footage taken at sub zero temps while it will be the warmest day of the year so far ( 90)

@adgranat and @graciewallner we're such a pleasure to work with, they were with us artists during sub zero installations and recorded in depth interviews. I can't wait to see how it all intertwines together!

On another note: I'm very humbled that the @madisonbubbler
Nominated me for a silver lining award for my role as volunteer shop manager at @communicationmadison

I'll be at the awards to support all the nominees and winners. 🥂🎉

Reposted from @tonemsn 🎞 Grant Phipps previews a new short documentary, "Winter Is Alive," on 2021's citywide cooler world carnival, set to premiere after the Silver Lining Awards at Garver Feed Mill this Thursday, May 12, at 9:30 p.m. The film will be projected on the wall of the venue's outside patio.
Co-directors Aaron Granat and Gracie Wallner spoke with Phipps about making the doc, their working relationship, and more. ❄️
tonemadison.com/film

"Although 'Winter Is Alive' is a commissioned and ultimately edifying work, both Granat and Wallner were a bit humbled and inspired by the project’s unraveling interconnectivity, poetically pondering moments of creative breakthrough as well as trauma. Wallner says, 'The project is artists and activists and scientists all coming together to make change. It’s easy to be pessimistic about it on a broad scale. But when you think of it as reaching out and helping someone in the moment, [when] everyone is doing that, that’s where we can make the change'."

All images from "Winter Is Alive"

A Year ago...

A year ago this SIPHONOPHORE was installed for Winter is Alive- A world wide festival dedicated to climate action.​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
The week I installed last year had sub zero temps and I had to stop a few times because I couldn't feel my hands. ​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
A couple weeks after installation all the snow was gone and it was so warm that the installations on Madison lakes had to be taken down nearly 2 weeks earlier than planned​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
Comparatively this year and today in particular it's nearly 50 degrees more than it was at this time last year. In the past decade in February there have been 70 degree days. While many Midwesterners rejoice during warm temps in the middle of winter, I find it alarming.​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
This SIPHONOPHORE represents our hopes, our collective and individual actions and how they all work together. The actions we take as individuals matter. Things worth doing require time, patience and love.​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
I do believe that individual action can drive change. In siphonophores, individual organisms join together to form a colonial organism in order to survive. ​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
Climate action is a siphonophore, we are dependent on each other to feed the movement that ensures not only our survival but also all other life on this planet. ​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
I believe the oceans are where life originated and the preservation of the oceans also maintains balance for all life on this blue marble. ​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​
Part of my climate action as an artist is in presenting what is contained in the blue of our marble and deep sea creatures in particular. These creatures aren't visible to us, we know relatively nothing about them and yet they're responsible for a large portion of the oxygen we breathe, for sinking tons of carbon and much else we don't even know we don't know. By better understanding them we come to know ourselves. ​​​​​​​​

Reminiscing about last winter

Around this time a year ago I was continuously work on this sculpture of a siphonophore- a commentary and invitation to think about climate action.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Here in WI it's one of the coldest days we've had this winter and I reflect back on installing this outdoors during the most frigid temps of last winter. While frigid temps are no joke, the rapid rise in temperature last year, 2 weeks after installation was frightening.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Today I transported a different batch of artwork in frigid temps. Here's hoping that it will stay cold ( snow would be nice though) for awhile longer 🤞❄️⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀