Title: CO2 Lock-In
Artists: Bigert & Bergström
Dates: October 1–22
Location: Outside SSE’s main entrance, Sveavägen 65
Material: 100 percent recycled iron, shaped as carbon dioxide molecules
Presented by: SSE Art Initiative in cooperation with Stockholm Konst
Photography: Jean-Baptiste Béranger
Bigert & Bergström have explored climate change, sustainability, humanity, nature and technology for the last 30 years. SSE Art Initiative was happy to exhibit their installation CO2 Lock-In for three weeks outside the main entrance of the school. The foot shackles are made of 100 percent recycled iron and shaped as carbon dioxide molecules.
Each work weighs 300 kilograms—the average weight of a Swede’s CO₂ emissions over three weeks. Outside SSE, the kilos could nail you to the ground.
During the three-week exhibition, a series of performances took place at certain times. The artists, researchers, students and experts were chained to the artwork to meet students and faculty at the school, as well as the public on Sveavägen.
The project was initiated in 2012 for the worldwide climate action Earth Hour as a collaboration between Bigert & Bergström and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Its ambition was to encourage a moment of slow reflection, interrupt the constant production and consumption of everyday life, and open a dialogue around difficult climate questions.