Meltdown Flags

Meltdown Flags is a climate data initiative that visualizes the effects of global glacier retreat by reducing the amount of white in the flags of countries with glaciers.

Glaciers are a source of life—they provide vital drinking water, help generate power for millions of homes, and are our most valuable indicators in understanding the future of global climate change. Without glaciers we would live in a very different world. Complete meltdown would bring sea level rise to a record high, and eliminate 69% of the world’s drinking water. Although not every country may have a glacier, every country depends on their survival.

The goal of this project is to educate about the importance of glaciers, provide solutions to reduce emissions and put pressure on politics to deal with the climate crisis. Meltdown Flags is an open source climate data project initiated by environmental technology company METER. Data sources include METER, UNESCO, NASA, World Glacier Monitoring System (WGMS), United Nations Environmental Programme, the University of Zurich and the University of Innsbruck.

Handsewn flags take the message to the streets. In December 2019, Meltdown Flags made their first appearance at the COP25 in Madrid. Since then, they have become a symbol of protest at climate demonstrations and events around the world.

A website provides more information and ways to act. Visitors can visualize the degree of glacier retreat by country, as well as access more data and information. They can also calculate and offset their carbon footprint. By downloading the flags and custom typeface, they also take part in the initiative.

An interactive exhibition concept adds another dimension. Lenticular installations of the Meltdown Flags help visualize the glacier retreat depending on the position of the viewer. An Instagram AR filter activated by the flags allows visitors and app users alike to immerse themselves in the data.

Meltdown Flags show the past, current and future state of meltdown. Created custom typeface visualise this accelerated melt process through three developed cuts. Starting from 1995, the year of the first United Nations Climate Change Conference, to 2050, the year set out by the UN to reach net-zero emissions and limit global temperature to 1.5 °C.

See the project live via meltdownflags.org or show your support by following Meltdown Flags on Instagram. If you’re interested in hosting an exhibition or any type of collaboration, please get in touch.

Meltdown Flags

Client: METER Group
Credits: Moby Digg Studio, Serviceplan Group, Hyperinteractive, and Standardabweichung Design

Contrast Experience

Life is the coexistence of all opposite values. Joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, up and down, hot and cold, here and there, light and darkness, birth and death. All experience is by contrast, and one would be meaningless without the other. (Deepak Chopra)

Coexistence

Custom type lettering with its letterforms overlaying one another to represent the nuances and diversities in humanity, that we should appreciate differences and also embrace the similarities that make us people.

Succubus

Current economic system through the period of pandemic has shown itself as succubus of society. Can people coexist with each other and progress without the concept of money?

Struktura

We coexist in the structured chaos of constant information overload. Each individual has to find their own way through the myriads of visual, audial and textual voices. Through structuring informational mayhem into individual paths which with time develop into distinguishable shapes, we form subliminal perception of world’s hum. The process is visualised on these images.

Osmosis Guardian

The Osmosis Guardian is a God which has the duty to keep mankind balanced to ensure its coexistence and survival. Indeed, he needs to carefully size up or size down the amount of power, wisdom, temptation and love in the world by throwing homemade divine apples on humans.

This character design aims to think beyond what we have in front of us. It gives us the opportunity to imagine what are the Gods roles into our lives and how this one in particular can look like.

Reality Check

When you can’t really tell what’s real anymore! Excessive used of photo retouching and manipulation in social media, 3D rendering in fashion and advertising, and CG effects in films. We’ve been living with lies and we don’t seem to mind!

C/O VIENNA Magazine

“SMELLS LIKE CHEWING GUM”—The C/O VIENNA Magazine Beauty issue is full of interviews, reports, stories, photo and art works by internationally known and upcoming artists and authors. From which ingredients does beauty develop? Where do we find beautiful things in the world? What is beautiful? Who determines what is beautiful and what is ugly? We’ll try to answer these questions by talking to people who might have found the answer.

The Beauty Issue comes along with contributions by: Bela Borsodi, Jakob Lena Knebl, Healing Stones 2.0, Wer ist die Schönste im ganzen Land?, Gelatin, Der Pferdenarr, Sarah Steiner, The Diver, Sissel Tolaas, Der Kitsch, Die Schönheit des Bösen, Chris Austin Hadfield, Immo Klink, and Los Mantero. With a limited Art Edition by Peter Kogler

C/O VIENNA Magazine

Editor: REDAKTIONSBUERO OST
Volume: 306 pages
Format: 27 × 21 × 1 cm
Language: English, German
ISBN: 978-3-9504677-1-0
Price: € 16.–
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altogether

We have reached the eleventh hour already, the best way of preventing the overflow of the proverbial vase is to harmoniously cooperate, actively work together and be aware of the dependency on each other.