Sensing the Future in the Anthropocene: Multisensory Artworks and Climate Change

The article analyzes artworks by Dagna Jakubowska, Diana Lelonek, and Peter de Cupere in the context of sensory perception and environmental engagement. The analyzed projects propose various speculative narratives and sensory stimuli that allow the audience to have an embodied experience of those narratives. Artists encourage us to listen to the melting glaciers, taste the dishes of the apocalyptic future or smell the polluted air in order to materialize the vision of climate change, which for some still remains an abstract concept rather than an ongoing reality. The empirical sensory experiences become arguments in the discussions about the anthropogenic roots of climate change. The article examines the role of senses and art in breaching the gap between scientific evidence and everyday experience regarding climate change.