Melting ice: it’s the metaphor of our age. Here on Inhabitat, we’ve seen melting penguins, melting furniture, and melting little men. In case you missed theses visuals of climate change, in case those images of ice holes from An Inconvenient Truth are fading from memory, in case you’re bored on August 1st around 11 am, Chin Chih Yang has a not-so-gentle reminder for you. He’s bringing 21,000 lbs of ice to Union Square in New York City. As it melts, it will be raising flashing red hell with emergency lights triggered by the melting, protesting its own demise.

The temporary ice installation will be surrounded by ice benches. At the center of the ice park will be a giant hunk of proverbial iceberg. Anyone looking to sit and relax in this titanic wonderland, however, will be interrupted by alarms and projections: the ice will be protesting any acceleration of its own melting. Yang will be setting alarm levels according to the temperature of the ice. Visitors will have to confront their own role in the ice-meltage while watching images of fish flit by.

Yang’s other projects include 100 degrees, which encapsulated a tree in a red inflatable globe. The tree was made from recycled materials and displayed testimonials from participants in the artwork. We’re glad to see him consistently fired up about climate change (pun very strongly intended).

+ Chin Chih Yang