Massive Exhibit Shines a Light on Endangered Species
August 3, 2015
For three hours last Saturday, August 1st, visions and videos of endangered animals danced on New York City’s iconic Empire State Building. Two artists created this exhibition using 40 projectors to showcase the plight of endangered animals and to spark conversation about mass extinction. Cecil, the beloved lion from a Zimbabwe national park who was killed in a poaching incident last month, was honored along with 160 endangered species beamed onto the New York landmark as part of the event.
The display, dubbed by the artists as a “weapon of mass instruction,” served as a sky-high reminder of the harm—whether through habitat destruction, poaching, pollution, deforestation, or other damaging choices—that humans continue to inflict on the planet’s many endangered creatures. The display also aimed to foster the idea that conservation of these species, and all species, is in great need. The 2014 edition of the Living Planet Report, released by the WWF (formerly the World Wildlife Fund) in September of last year, claimed that the populations of amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles have dropped by more than half since 1970. Conservation of endangered species, and in fact of all species, is an immediate priority if these animals are to survive the next 100 years.