Brian Goggin, S.F. Artist, is Hauling a Colossal Block of Ice From Greenland to Manhattan

In a bid to remind the public of the effects of global warming, Goggin has decided to travel to Greenland, extract an “enormous monolith” of 100,000 year-old rare blue basal ice, and transport it back to Manhattan.

This being art, things then get weird. Well, weirder. The method of extraction is unusual. Then there’s this.

Once it arrives in New York, the ice block will be placed in a custom-designed high-tech reliquary filled with sub-zero glycol solution to keep the ice chilled, weighing in at 4000 pounds altogether. The installation will include a circle of laser beams around the reliquary that serve no practical purpose, but are intended to convey “a sense of rarity and significant value.”

I have to note that I am often encircled by lasers, but they do not seem to convey a sense of rarity and significant value. That I’ve noticed, anyway.

Ultimately, after touring museums across the nation, Goggin will install the monolith in a permanent home, where he hopes to preserve the ice for exactly 488 years. Goggin picked this number because 488 years ago, Manhattan was discovered by Captain Giovanni da Verrazzano of the French ship La Dauphine.

I hope the refrigeration unit will be run by a renewable energy source if this is to bring awareness of global warming and not be a big carbon source.