Performance art on front lines of climate change

Conceptual artist Lars Jan has spent the last several years creating a project inspired by scenes of floodwaters, from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Theres no question in his mind that climate change is to blame, which makes the installation of Holoscenes, a 14,000-gallon aquarium on the bayfront adjacent to C d Zan, all the more pointed.

If sea levels rise as scientists predict, the first floor of John Ringlings mansion will be under water by the end of the century.

Florida is absolutely on the very front lines of this issue, whether anyone who lives, votes, or leads there wants it to be or not, said Jan, a New York City-based artist.

"Bed" performed by Geoff Sobelle of New York, as Valerie Jenvey, an art teacher on her spring break from Carmel, California looks on. / HERALD-TRIBUNE PHOTO BY THOMAS BENDER

Jan knows firsthand about rising waters.

When Hurricane Sandy swamped the eastern seaboard in 2012, Jan and his wife, new parents, left their home in Brooklyn for a few days. When they returned, our part of Brooklyn was in disarray, which is fortunate in comparison to the many other areas that were devastated, said Jan.

"Persimmons" performed by Lua Shayenne of Toronto, Canada as part of "Holoscenes" at The Ringling. / HERALD-TRIBUNE PHOTO BY THOMAS BENDER

There were multi-hour gas lines for the entirety of the next month, which made shopping, going to the doctor and traveling out of the city very difficult. There were all sorts of shortages that lasted for months. I visited various parts of Manhattan in the days following Sandy, experienced the total black out and the piles of ruined furniture, drywall, destroyed books and more. As an artist, he was compelled to address the flooding and the larger issue of how climate change will impact human behavior through his artwork. The resulting public art and performance project is on display through Saturday on the Ringling Museum campus.

Holoscenes is a Plexiglas water tank in which a performer acts out an everyday behavior as the waters rise and fall around him or her, from taking a nap to washing windows to reading the newspaper. Four performers take 45-minute turns in the tank, acting out eight scenarios.

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Performance art on front lines of climate change