Ap Verheggen climate change sculpture

Climate change sculpture sinks

A sculpture placed on an iceberg to highlight the impact of climate change has disappeared to the depths of the ocean near Greenland.

Dutch sculptor Ap Verheggen constructed a dogsled statue on a large iceberg in March in the hopes the formation would drift down the Davis Strait to Newfoundland and Labrador.

The iceberg was then expected to melt off the shores of Newfoundland for a period of two to four years.

But the iceberg has already broken apart and the statue has been spotted under about 500 metres of water off the coast of Greenland.

Verheggen designed the five-metre sculpture with the support of the World Wildlife Fund to highlight climate change's impact on cultures.

"Climate change is culture change," Verheggen told CBC. "Therefore we placed two silhouettes of dogsled riders on an iceberg and now we show the world that nature is in charge."

Verheggen believes the melting ice threatens the ancient culture of the Inuit, many of who are still dependent on dogsleds for hunting and travel.

The iceberg broke loose and began its journey from the island of Uummannaq in May. The GPS signals set up on the statue to track the iceberg's progress disappeared Thursday.

"The iceberg sunk," Verheggen wrote on his blog tracking the iceberg's progress. "Can you believe that an iceberg like this one disappears in only a matter of weeks?"

Still on Uummannaq, Verheggen said he can hear icebergs collapsing into the ocean all day and night.

"It raises some questions," he said. "What is going on?"

The World Wildlife Fund intends to salvage the statue, CBC reported.

Previous SculptSite.com articles on this important project:

sculpture-headlines-Ap-Verheggen-03-23-10.html

sculpture-headlines-Ap-Verheggen-03-17-10.html

We said stay tuned back on March 23, 2010 for the progress of this vitally interesting project. Well, it has sunk according to Verheggen's blog.
Kudos to sculptor Ap Verheggen!