The interdisciplinary research project Barricading the Ice Sheets (2019–2023) chronicles the mobilizations of climate activists through their activities, gatherings, and working sessions and presents different approaches and methods for an artistic-activist practice. In his works, Ressler takes a stand on the problem of increasing carbon emissions and accompanies civil disobedience activities that illuminate the inseparability of environmental issues and sociopolitical as well as economic conditions. The corresponding cycle of solo exhibitions, also titled Barricading the Ice Sheets, brings together pieces produced within the overarching framework of the project.
An exhibition was shown in 2021–23 at Camera Austria, Graz (AT), Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb (HR), n.b.k. – Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin (DE), Tallinn Art Hall (EE), LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, Gijón (ES), and The Showroom, London (GB).
The publication presents these in detail by means of numerous text contributions as well as comprehensive photo documentations and emphasizes the complexity of the climate crisis in its proliferating manifestations.
Oliver Ressler: Barricading the Ice Sheets
Edited by Corina Apostol, Marius Babias, Reinhard Braun, Pablo DeSoto, Gabriela Salgado, and Leila Topić. With texts by Oliver Ressler, Andreas Malm, T. J. Demos, Ameli M. Klein, Kodwo Eshun & Doreen Mende, Toni Negri, Marco Baravalle, Pujita Guha, Anja Steidinger & Nora Sternfeld.
272 pages, color illustrations, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Cologne 2023
