These videos 2021-22 investigate the politics of ‘cold’ through the examination of a series of cases and contexts in which the thermostatic condition of cold and its differential experiences and effects are entangled with legal questions, human rights violations, but also claims for social and environmental justice.
Through the analysis of a series of contemporary as well as historic ‘cold cases’ the project explores the strategic role of temperature and speculates about the emergence of a new thermo-politics defined by cold, exposing the degree to which temperature becomes a register of violence. One that includes the leagcies of climate colonialism, longstanding socio-economic inequalities, and ongoing structural racism.
Commissioned by Momenta Biennale de I’Image 2021 & Toronto Biennial of Art 2022
Produced in collaboration with Forensic Architecture, Omar Ferwati with research assistance Henry Bradley.
The footage of Guardian contributor and photographer David Taylor, who has been documenting migrant detention centres/prisons along the US-Mexico for many years, is featured in the “Cold Case: Ice-Box Detention along the US-Mexico Border”. See their project COMPLEX here.
Special thanks to Candice Hopkins, Senior Curator Toronto Biennale of Art, for her guidance and insights in producing these cases.
Motores del Clima, Laboral Centro de Arte y Creatión Industrial, Spain (2023-24)
The Big Picture, Halle, Leipzig (2023)
Backlight Festival, Tampere, Finland (2023)
KIRIK On-line, Istanbul (2022)
The Berlin Biennale (2022)
Weather Engines, Onasis Stegi, Athens (2022)
“Cold Case: Freezing Deaths” in Toronto Biennale, Canada (2022)
“Cold Case: Freezing Deaths” in Open Futures: Kollektive Resonanz, Shedhalle, Zurich (2021-22)
“Cold Case: Freezing Deaths” in Sensing Nature, Momenta Biennale de l’Image, Canada (2021)
These Seasons, Swiss Institute, NYC,
Conversation with Shannon Mattern (23 February 2023)
Imperial Ecologies, Berlin Biennale (23 June 2022)
Sandberg, Denmark (12-13 June 2022)
Motores del Clima, RTVE, Spanish TV, 35 mins. 2024
First Nation demands OPP officer fired after allegedly leaving man on remote northern Ontario highway, CBC News (14.11.2022)
Berlin Biennale Wrestles With Big Issues (and Itself)
Siddhartha Mitter, New York Times (22.07.2022)
The Investigative Mode of the Berlin Biennale Raises an Uncomfortable Question: Who Is All This Research Really for?
Ben Davis, Artnet News 12.07.2022)
The 2022 Toronto Biennial of Art evoked ties between land, water, and human
Dilpreet Bhullar, STIRworld (28.06.2022)
Can the weather be weaponised? Where climate data and art meet
Elise Morton, Euronews (01.04.2022)
Through the analysis of a series of contemporary as well as historic ‘cold cases’ the project explores the strategic role of temperature and speculates about the emergence of a new thermo-politics defined by cold, exposing the degree to which temperature becomes a register of violence. One that includes the leagcies of climate colonialism, longstanding socio-economic inequalities, and ongoing structural racism.
Commissioned by Momenta Biennale de I’Image 2021 & Toronto Biennial of Art 2022
Produced in collaboration with Forensic Architecture, Omar Ferwati with research assistance Henry Bradley.
The footage of Guardian contributor and photographer David Taylor, who has been documenting migrant detention centres/prisons along the US-Mexico for many years, is featured in the “Cold Case: Ice-Box Detention along the US-Mexico Border”. See their project COMPLEX here.
Special thanks to Candice Hopkins, Senior Curator Toronto Biennale of Art, for her guidance and insights in producing these cases.
EXHIBITIONS
Motores del Clima, Laboral Centro de Arte y Creatión Industrial, Spain (2023-24)
The Big Picture, Halle, Leipzig (2023)
Backlight Festival, Tampere, Finland (2023)
KIRIK On-line, Istanbul (2022)
The Berlin Biennale (2022)
Weather Engines, Onasis Stegi, Athens (2022)
“Cold Case: Freezing Deaths” in Toronto Biennale, Canada (2022)
“Cold Case: Freezing Deaths” in Open Futures: Kollektive Resonanz, Shedhalle, Zurich (2021-22)
“Cold Case: Freezing Deaths” in Sensing Nature, Momenta Biennale de l’Image, Canada (2021)
TALKS
These Seasons, Swiss Institute, NYC,
Conversation with Shannon Mattern (23 February 2023)
Imperial Ecologies, Berlin Biennale (23 June 2022)
Sandberg, Denmark (12-13 June 2022)
REVIEWS
Motores del Clima, RTVE, Spanish TV, 35 mins. 2024
First Nation demands OPP officer fired after allegedly leaving man on remote northern Ontario highway, CBC News (14.11.2022)
Berlin Biennale Wrestles With Big Issues (and Itself)
Siddhartha Mitter, New York Times (22.07.2022)
The Investigative Mode of the Berlin Biennale Raises an Uncomfortable Question: Who Is All This Research Really for?
Ben Davis, Artnet News 12.07.2022)
The 2022 Toronto Biennial of Art evoked ties between land, water, and human
Dilpreet Bhullar, STIRworld (28.06.2022)
Can the weather be weaponised? Where climate data and art meet
Elise Morton, Euronews (01.04.2022)
FREEZING DEATHS & ABANDONMENT ACROSS CANADA
TEMPERATURE RANGE 2 ° to -24 ° Celsius
LOCATIONS Saskatoon, Edmonton, Vancouver, Val-d’Or, Canada
DATES 1976-2015
Realised by Susan Schuppli with Forensic Architecture / Omar Ferwati & Nicholas Masterton, 2021
HD colour video with stereo sound, 31:55 mins
WEAPONIZING WATER AGAINST WATER PROTECTORS AT STANDING ROCK, N. DAKOTA
