Listen to the text of this chapter:

Mary Mark (*This Is Not A Drill* Student Fellow), Dror Margalit (*This Is Not A Drill* Student Fellow)

Reflecting Forward, 2023

Baltic Birch, Acrylic, Monitor, Depth Camera

We are currently witnessing unprecedented consequences of climate change, where July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. With such vast global changes, it is hard to imagine what life will feel like in the foreseeable future. Yet, despite the extreme uncertainty, we have to make decisions today that will affect generations to come. To help guide decisions and understand the implications of our collective actions, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)--a global scientific community on climate change--proposed five storylines of climate and social trajectories.

Reflecting Forward is an interactive video installation that invites viewers to ponder the possible climate futures. The scientific community and IPCC present a set of plausible scenarios ranging from "most optimistic" to "avoid at all costs" that paint a picture of five possible global development and emission paths and their consequences. Using stories and visual imagery inspired by the data from these scenarios, the piece provides a glimpse of what alternative future realities could mean for each one of us.

The central object of Reflecting Forward is a mirror. As viewers approach and spend more time with their reflection, the mirror begins to reveal snapshots of the future. The visuals are reactive to the viewers' movements through which they can explore the relationship between the local and global environments. Twelve stories that mark the crucial shifts in the climate throughout the five scenarios (i.e., +1C, +2C, +3C, and +4C global temperature increase) that are generated through an iterative and collaborative process with generative AI.

Altogether, Reflecting Forward uses scientific data not only to explore what the future of climate change could look like but also how it might feel. It allows viewers to reflect on the implications of collective actions in their local environment and see how they connect to the rest of the world. As people engage with the mirror, they are invited to envision what kind of future they want to live in and what they are willing to do for it.

The artists extend special thanks to Phil Caridi, Gabe BC, and Sharon De La Cruz for helping in the development of this project.