The American contemporary artist Jenny Holzer recently revealed a series of large-scale light projections, under the title HURT EARTH (2021), across the UK. This project coincides with the 26th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), which takes place in Glasgow and brings together leaders and delegates from approximately 120 countries. Intended to raise awareness of the climate crisis—one of the greatest challenges faced by humanity today—HURT EARTH launched at London’s Tate Modern and has traveled to major UK landmarks including Edinburgh Castle, the SEC Armadillo, and the Met Tower, and will be followed by a series of pop-up locations in Edinburgh through November 14, 2021.

For the past four decades, Holzer has utilized text as her primary medium to address pressing social issues and advocate political justice. For HURT EARTH, the artist has projected excerpts of writings, testimonies, speeches, and interviews from approximately 40 international leaders and activists onto different buildings, highlighting the precarious state of the climate crisis—an issue Holzer has always followed closely. Of the texts incorporated into the artwork includes a quote by the Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, “IF WE CHOOSE TO ACT TOGETHER THERE ARE NO LIMITS TO WHAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH,” along with one by Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, “THERE IS NOTHING MORE PRACTICAL IN THE END THAN THE PRESERVATION OF BEAUTY.” The use of such determined and intuitive language compellingly highlights the alarming intensity of climate change.

Inviting viewers to contemplate the bleak reality of the climate crisis, the sentences projected onto the façade of each building transforms what was once a familiar edifice into an entirely new piece of architecture. At a time when solidarity and collective action are most needed in order to address the current climate crisis, Holzer’s work initiates essential discourse on social and political activism within the art world.