“Air Bear” installation

Our project on artistic interventions made me think of this installation by Joshua Allen Harris that was pretty viral in 2008. The artist created a polar bear figure out of plastic bags that would sit on top of the subway grates in New York. The polar bear was (I’m not sure if it still is) seen as a symbol for the effects of climate change, melting ice caps and all that. The inflation and deflation of the bear seems to be a commentary on climate change and the repetitive “disappearance” of the polar bear as it deflated, as well as the material commonly being seen as litter being used for something more positive.