The Canary Project, founded in 2006 by the artists Susannah Sayler and Edward Morris (Sayler/Morris) initially consisted of Sayler photographing landscapes throughout the world where scientists are studying the impacts of climate change. Titled A History of the Future, the sites included melting glaciers in Peru, rising waters in the Netherlands and Venice, and post-Katrina New Orleans. Exhibitions of the photographs quickly expanded into multimedia events that were accompanied with contextual research and archival images, and then with installations and sculptures by other artists, and extensive educational and outreach materials.
The Canary Project now includes diverse works involving more than 30 artists, designers, writers, educators and scientists.
The causes and effects of global change, which encompass those of climate change, are increasingly the focus of artists around the world, whether they are working in the Antarctic, Canada, Chile, or Southeast Asia. Many of those projects rely on photographic evidence for working materials. What makes the Canary Project unique is that Sayler and Morris have partnered with local artists and others wherever they have been in residence. This enables them to expand the reach of their concern through the use of other media, including bus ads, billboards, posters, and installations such as the climate poker game Quartet for the End of Time, and the fashion performance Increase your Albedo.
This archive exhibition will include photographs, manuscripts, and objects from 2005 through 2010. The archive is in the collection of Nevada Museum of Art, Center for Art + Environment, Gift of Susannah Sayler and Ed Morris.