Solar Peace Sculpture

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Fred George is a photographer and sculptor who created the Solar Peace Sculptures. The sculpture, 58 feet high, made from 80 oil barrels with a solar panel attached to each one, draws inspiration from the peace sign, which was Gerald Holtom’s 1958 symbol of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. The Solar Peace Sculptures send a message of environmental sustainability at a time when we are so dependent on oil. They call for alternative energy, with a focus on solar power, when human casualties from oil wars abound. The sculpture is targeted for New York City and Germany as a “symbol of energy conservation and a call for peace worldwide.” Through producing energy, the sculpture transforms a sign of consumption into a sign of production.

http://solarpeacesculpture.fredgeorge.com/pages/en/home.php

Artist Statement:

“It has been the direction of my work to stimulate, provoke, and to address certain questions that must not be ignored. My work has explored the tensions and dynamics of our contemporary world-and, I hope, raised those vexing questions about violence, gender, religion, and oppression of all kinds. (re: AK47 Sculpture). My work pushes the viewer to look beyond acceptable norms to consider political, social, and environmental implications that are commonly overlooked. In particular, I wanted to address the world’s dependency on oil. Oil has such an impact on our environment, our economy, and on the geo-political landscape. In many ways, oil enables the technology that mobilizes our lives. However, the oil economy has contributed to environmental pollution, poverty and inequality, and provided an underlying foundation for war and oppression. In terms of public art, it is the ‘public’ who is the true owner of the art, and, thus, most entitled to discuss and argue the merits of its design and message—it is therefore hard to imagine a more fitting installation than the Solar Peace Sculpture.”

http://solarpeacesculpture.fredgeorge.com/pages/en/artist/artistacutes-statement.php