Global Warning, 2022

Materials: Steel, aluminium, LED, cable and electronics

Dimensions: 152.5(h) x 95(w) x 61(d)cms

‘Show Your Stripes’ created by Professor Ed Hawkins

Global Warning is a data visualisation light work which was inspired by the “Show Your Stripes” image created by Professor Ed Hawkins from the University of Reading. The image illustrates the world’s global temperatures from 1850-2020 and displays them in coloured stripes across the graphic.

In Global Warning Shemza uses the stripes to create an animation which moves from the top to the bottom of the artwork, displaying the last 170 years of data in a matter of seconds. After the animation has displayed the data it pauses to strobe as a warning to show that if we go over our 1.5 degrees target for global warming it will be catastrophic for our planet. The animation then reverses to highlight that it is possible to reverse the trend if we implement the measures outlined at the UN Climate Summit from November 2021.

The work exposes its cables in all their entangled glory, as a statement about the physicality of technology to highlight that it does not exist outside the world of the physical. We believe our data to be stored ‘in the cloud’ but in reality it is stored in large factories full of energy consuming data servers. Our internet and electricity are physically brought to us through a vast network of cables running across the globe using even more energy and precious resources.

Our use of technology is warming the earth - the more energy we use, the more resources we consume, the warmer the earth’s temperature. Global Warning is a manifestation of this anxiety. How can we continue to use technology knowing the cost to the planet?