UNDER YOUR SEAT
Under Your Seat is a public art piece/stunt, for which we collaborated with Tunisia&UAE-based artist and creative director Moez Achour.
In it, we installed life vests under the seats in a restaurant in Dubai, and added a mock plane safety card to the menu – to raise awareness of the devastating effects of climate change that are already being experienced by hundreds of millions, and our individual responsibility to take action. We also filmed the audience reactions, as a social experiment.
Extreme weather, rising seas, and damaged ecosystems threaten the safety and livelihoods of billions. Currently, an estimated 1.81 billion people, or 23% of the world population, face significant flood risk. Over a billion climate refugees are expected globally by 2050.
“We are all responsible. And it is also our responsibility to change, and to help make a change – be it by creating an art installation, or by talking to a friend… Any action matters.”
Many people have already had their lives overturned by climate change, with low-income communities, people of color, indigenous people, people with disabilities, older or very young people, women – all more susceptible to risks posed by climate impacts.
However, no matter who you are and where you live – everyone, everywhere will feel the effects of climate change. As the world gets hotter, floods, fires, droughts, pollution and crop failures will become more severe and disrupt life as we know it. However – it is not too late, and what governments, companies, industries, and citizens do at this stage, truly matters.
There is indeed a ‘life vest’ under our seat – and it is climate action.
USE THIS ARTWORK!
This installation is made replicable under an open license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) so that movements and collectives around the world can recreate the concept in their cities. Interested? Get in touch – hello [at] fineacts.co
THIS WORK IS A CALL TO ACTION. WE CAN CHANGE CLIMATE CHANGE – IF WE ACT NOW, AND TOGETHER. THERE IS A MYRIAD OF WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. TAKE MEANINGFUL STEPS TO REDUCE YOUR CARBON IMPACT & ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME:
Wondering where to start? Get inspired by the 16 steps you can take to help tackle climate change by Count Us In, including:
Talk about it. Start a conversation about climate change & steps to take.
Spark ideas at work. Inspire your organization to make changes that matter.
Keep politicians accountable. Call on elected officials to speed up climate action for us all.
Cut food waste. Buy what you need and use what you buy.
Eat more veggies. Reduce the amount of meat you eat in a week.
Switch to clean energy. Upgrade your home to a clean energy plan or install solar.
Grow more trees. Help the experts plant, protect & restore our forests.
Reduce and recycle. Avoid single-use plastic and recycle right.
Join a group. Team up with others and boost your impact.
THE ARTIST
Moez Achour is an artist, award-winning creative director and photographer who creates high-end content for brands, editorial outlets, and agencies.
Moez started his career as a photographer and creative designer at Style.com/arabia, the first Condé Nast publication in the Middle East. While there, Moez became the first Arab to cover international fashion weeks from a street-style perspective, creating content that set a new benchmark for the industry.
He later moved to lead digital media company Diwanee, where he built a creative team and developed new verticals in the business. Formerly an advertising art director who worked with DDB and Ogilvy in his native Tunisia, aged just 17, Moez then decided to pursue an independent career as a creative director and photographer working with the best brands in the MENA region.
Also a socially conscious artist, Moez’s first solo exhibition – The Real Issue – tackled social and environmental issues by shedding light and raising awareness of problems in the modern world – such as immigration and pollution. The exhibition received positive and widespread press coverage in publications such as Vogue, Grazia, and Vice.