Hot, Hot, Getting Hotter...
Once again, we’ve been through, and are still going through, a deadly summer. Even the elders of Safed don’t remember temperatures like these, but then again, they don’t remember much of anything anyway.
Shlomo Artzi sang about the heat of July-August, but perhaps he should update his song to The Heat of July-August-September. And maybe add October as well.
The climate crisis is already here. In the Middle East, in Europe, and pretty much everywhere else. The Earth’s temperature is rising because of the pollution humanity produces. No wonder the weather is going crazy: severe heat waves, wildfires, floods, and declining water supplies.
No wonder people here are irritable, drivers are behaving like maniacs, and violence is flourishing. The heat is cooking our brains. How lucky we are that we’re not in Europe. Here in Israel, we have air conditioning. In many homes in Europe, there is no air conditioning. In some cities, installing air conditioners is even completely prohibited. Why? Because their appearance detracts from the beauty of the city, and because air conditioners contribute to enormous amounts of carbon dioxide emissions.
But we’re here to talk about art. How does extreme weather affect our field?
Creating art requires concentration, patience, and sometimes many long hours of uninterrupted work. Extreme heat makes it more difficult. In a studio without air conditioning, it’s hard to spend hours painting, sculpting, photographing, or working on a digital creation. Fatigue, sweating, headaches, and reduced concentration may cause an artist to work fewer hours or postpone the work until the cooler parts of the day.
But the impact isn’t only physical. The climate also affects the imagination and the content of art.
Artists live within the reality in which they create. When summer becomes unbearably hot, when wildfires break out, or when a familiar landscape changes because of drought, it is difficult to ignore. Themes such as wildfires, melting ice, water shortages, animal extinction, and natural disasters are becoming part of the artistic language of many creators.
It is not the role of art to provide data or solutions. But it can make us feel what is difficult to understand through numbers, statistics, and diagrams.
A painting of an empty street under a scorching sun, a photograph of someone searching for shade, or a song describing a city where it is no longer possible to breathe. All of these can transform reality into a human experience.
In this sense, the artist becomes, to some extent, a witness to the times: documenting not only what is happening to nature, but also how human beings experience the change.
There is another aspect as well: high temperatures and humidity can damage paintings, paper, photographs, tapes, and archival materials. Paints, adhesives, wax, plastics, and organic materials can deteriorate under extreme heat and humidity.
The challenge doesn’t end when the artwork is completed. Museums, galleries, and collectors have to invest more in temperature and humidity control in order to preserve artworks over time.
And here we encounter an irony: in order to protect artworks from the effects of climate change, we need more air conditioning, cooling, and energy, while the use of energy itself is part of the environmental problem...
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But let’s end on an optimistic note, because a good year and happy holidays are ahead of us!
Yoram Mark-Reich, Culture Editor
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