HUMAN INTEREST - THE ART PIECE

The United Nations headquarters in New York play host to launching an immersive art installation by artist Sahara Widoff, creative director at HEART 17, in collaboration with director/photographer David Walegren and EY Doberman. Together they have created the artwork ‘Human Interest’ which highlights the power of the youth generation, the strength of their capacity to bring positive attitude into the aspects of our common future.

‘Human Interest’ features Youth Leaders such as Mitzi Jonelle Tan, Fridays for Future and Shaan Kumar, Wedu Global together with Nico Rengifo, Torii Wolf and Mimmi Bangoura, artists from Epidemic Sound. The art piece is composed of photographs, quotes and creative references to the IPCC-report.

“We owe it to them [youth] to create a powerful platform for action and change. The quotes of youth leaders symbolize the importance of youth inclusion. To acknowledge and highlight the impact and importance of their work.”
- Sahara Widoff

Having grown up in a globalized world with shame and blame within sustainability communication, climate anxiety is common - almost 4/10 adolescents feel that there is too much darkness and threats. Instead, studies show that creativity and innovation are factors that trigger hope and a collective action, to be part of something is an important factor to create hope and action (Ungdomsbarometern, 2022).

A BEACON OF HOPE

The art piece, launched on the UN as a glowing beacon, sending the message to politicians, business leaders and the world to bring attention to youth inclusion and creativity.

The name Human Interest is a reference to the aspects in our lives that are essential.

“Using HEART 17 as a kind of curator if you so wish, we want to explore the 17 Global Goals. Interests that are very human and driven by common emotions. The subjective views that are somehow the shared experiences of many, the longing to feel connected.”
- Sahara Widoff

The symbols

Featuring powerful symbols such as the eclipse representing the sad fact that, according to an unanimous signal from research and science put together in the latest IPCC-report, we are destroying our planet.

Strongly followed by the cell - the beginning of life, a new start and hope.

The birds illustrate the swarm-theory - the idea that a colony works better than one alone.

“The subjective views that are somehow the shared experiences of many, the longing to feel connected. The importance to start a collective collaboration, that inspires others to act”, Widoff continues.

The water is essential for all life, and the art piece makes several references to that fact.

“My wish with the artwork is for people to return to the notion that a collective inspiring effort is possible to save our planet. People should stop for a moment to acknowledge the importance of change - the importance of starting a collective collaboration, that inspires others to act.” Widoff says.

Innovation, symbolized as a robot waving a plastic flag, can lead us in the direction the IPCC report urges us to and be a important part of the solution.

“It’s almost like a peace-sign, it interacts and is friendly.” Widoff smiles and explains.

Collaboration with David Walegren and EY Doberman

David Walegren, director/photographer:

"I designed the film to loop with no obvious storyline. Sahara and I tried to work with universal cues and signals. I hope one scene or another provokes a short daydream in people. That’s what it does for me".

EY Doberman, Digital Design:

“When we started the project, the IPCC working group II report had just been published. Reading the headlines, it was easy to feel despair. Instead, the team at EY Doberman channeled the report into a call to action.

Our contribution was inspired by the data that forms the IPCC report. The floating points represent the data. They represent history. What has gotten us to where we are today. These points combine to create the activists who represent the present. They then form their calls to action, which is a hope for the future.”

way of working

HEART 17 will over time, will be built by a group of these personal perspectives as opposed to the one. A continuous exploration of the themes addressed in an open-ended notion of the collective.