Main image via Instagram
We’ve had many reasons to be proud of our fellow Malaysians recently and now, we have another Malaysian to celebrate!
This time around, Sabahan contemporary artist Red Hong Yi’s moving artwork on climate change has been featured on the cover of Time Magazine’s latest issue!
The artist created a 2.3m x 3m world map covered with 50,000 green-tipped matchsticks that were set alight for the prestigious magazine’s April 2021 issue’s cover.
The artwork highlights the effects of climate change on the world with its green matchstick symbolizing trees.
To create the massive artwork, Red put a six-member team together for the project.
“My team and I spent two weeks sticking matches non-stop for eight hours a days, and then we watched the piece burn down in two minutes,” the Sabahan shared on her Instagram.
“As the Covid pandemic continues to assail the world, we are reminded more than ever that no country is unaffected by global crises, whether it is a pandemic or economic collapse or, as this special issue highlights, global warming and climate change.”
Red shared a behind-the-scenes video of the project and noted that several safety precautions were taken when lighting up the 50,000 matchsticks.
“The challenge behind this is that we knew this would blow up,” she said. “It’s made of matchstick. So we made sure that safety measures were in place. We also sprayed fire-retardant paint on the board.”
“There were firefighters on standy,” the artis added. “We also had (safety) drills. So everything was taken into consideration.”
Women Photographers Malaysia co-founder Annice Lyn was also part of the project and played an important role in capturing the cover image.
“It gives me tremendous honour to do everyone’s effort justice to immortalize by capturing this moment in time to grace the cover of Time Magazine,” she said.
“The entire process took the team two months of planning, two weeks to assemble the art piece and just two minutes to watch it all go up in flames.”
A huge congratulations to Red for her outstanding achievement!
We hope her artwork’s message will touch the hearts of many and move the world in the right direction to fight climate change.
Info via Malay Mail