'50-50': UNTOLD STORY OF HUMAN CLIMATE ACTION PROGRESS REVEALED THROUGH DIGITAL ARTWORK

• Unveiled at Stockholm+50, digital art installation 50-50 marks 50 years of climate action and its significant, unheralded positive impact on key biodiversity areas 
• Installation by experiential and crypto artist John Munro illustrates UN datasets as abstract forms in digital landscapes as UN bids to use creativity to tell climate stories

LONDON, June 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 50-50 - a new digital art installation by acclaimed artist John Munro, Founder of Immersive International, unveiled at Stockholm+50 last week, reveals the unheralded positive impact of human climate action on the earth's biomes and key biodiversity areas. 

50-50 was created in partnership with the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum (SPBF) and art patron Jonathan Lett to mark fifty years of environmental action. 

Featuring an audio composition by sound artist Giovanni Agusta, 50-50 uses virtual landscapes and abstracted sculptural forms as a canvas for datasets illustrating the achievements and impact of the UN's Environmental Programme in Key Biodiversity Areas over the past five decades. 

This digital art commission, the first of its kind for the UN, demonstrates the organisation's commitment to using art, creativity, and technology to bring climate stories to life, inspiring broader engagement with sustainability and conservation projects. 

The President of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid said:

"The 50-50 art piece uses real data to articulate the condition of our changing environment, the hope to conserve and restore our ecosystems and a vision for future action. I congratulate John Munro and Giovanni Agusta for their creativity and the scientists for providing the datasets behind this legacy project that embraces the emerging art forms of the Metaverse. It inspires us to act towards a better future."

Key Biodiversity Areas are paramount to global biodiversity. These crucial ecosystems, found in our Marine, Freshwater, Terrestrial, and Mountain biomes are constantly gaining protection worldwide. Munro analysed hundreds of datasets to create artwork that uses abstract forms to elucidate the precise impact of climate action and human activity. 

Over 40% of the world's Key Biodiversity Areas are now protected and celebrated in the work, but that is still less than 10% of our planet's surface area. If we continue to identify and protect Key Biodiversity Areas, we can reverse the impending mass extinction of species.

Shereen Zorba, Head of the Global Secretariat of the UN SPBF on the Environment said: "The unveiling of this art installation marked a historic moment: half a century of environmental action. It is art meets science. And a powerful call to action." 

Munro's installation, produced by Immersive International's Managing Director Tommy Lexen and supported by Jonathan Lett, will be displayed both physically and virtually over the next year. 50 individual NFT artworks derived from it will also be auctioned to raise vital funds supporting climate change and environmental initiatives by the United Nations Environment Programme, in collaboration with UN SPBF.

John Munro said: 

"It's an honour to work on this project and highlight and celebrate the incredibly positive work being done every day to protect our planet's biodiversity. The more we connect to our planet and each other, the more we will work to uplift ourselves out of this global crisis. Digital art sits at the unique intersection of multisensory experiences to inspire and engage people with the vital work to secure our planet's long-term health."

"It's hugely heartening that the UN is embracing the power of creativity, and we are inspired and thrilled to work alongside their data scientists to bring this to life."

John Munro: https://www.john-munro.com/ 

Immersive International: https://immersive.international/ 

50-50: https://www.50-50.art/

UN SPBF: https://un-spbf.org/

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SOURCE Immersive International