The Fort Pointer captured artist Zy Baer at work on what will soon be Fort Point Channel's latest art installation, Polarity, which will show a future in which the channel floods and rises until only the upper floor and copper cornice of a building remains above water.
Baer describes the work:
The piece represents the intersection of climate change & privilege — the wealthy contribute the most to climate change but are experiencing & will continue to experience its consequences the least due to their access to resources. They’re also in a greater position to help than those living paycheck to paycheck — eco friendly options are often too expensive for folks in poverty, & more importantly, wealthy folks have the disposable income to enjoy leisure time that can & should be used to fight for Black & Indigenous lives & to curb the power of a handful of massive corporations that put their profit above the survival of every being that lives on Earth. With Fort Point & Seaport as the collective wealthiest neighborhood in Boston, as well as one that’s deeply exposed to destructive flooding caused by sea level rise from climate change, I’m depicting a classic Fort Point building as if it had sunk into the sea due to floodwaters. This piece isn’t fear-mongering — it’s Boston’s future. Sometimes you have to bring a visceral experience to people to kick their privileged a$$e$ into gear.
Artists have long used the channel as a floating platform on which to discuss climate change and social-equity issues.