Earth + Climate projects from Beatie Wolfe

First stirred into climate action as a teenager after seeing “An Inconvenient Truth,” Beatie Wolfe went on to create a stirring environmental protest piece about human impact on the planet, built using 800,000 years of historic NASA data. “From Green to Red” (taken from the title of the accompanying music that Wolfe wrote in 2006 after seeing the Al Gore doc) tracks the impact of human behavior on the planet, creating an arresting visualization of rising CO2 levels, and asks us the question, is it too late to turn back? This art piece was premiered at the Nobel Prize Summit where Wolfe spoke after Sir David Attenborough and Al Gore.

Realizing that the human impact story was only a part of how we got to this crisis point, Wolfe created ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ to illuminate the truth that has been purposefully obscured from view. Starting from 1970 until present day, this visceralization presents rising methane levels set alongside the advertising slogans deployed by the Big Oil industry to deny, doubt, and delay the growing climate awareness through the decades. This evocative visual, based on NASA’s Blue Marble photograph, is set to “Oh My Heart”, which was released as the world’s first bioplastic record by Beatie Wolfe and REM's Michael Stipe. This project won Prix Ars Electronica’s Golden Nica.

Constantly fascinated by the perplexing issue of making critical environmental data accessible and relatable to all, Wolfe moves from climate data and emissions to water asking the question: Where does our water really come from? And how might we revalue it if we knew? The first part of this story focuses on the LA Aqueduct, following its unnatural and improbable 419 mile journey to bring water to the homes of greater Los Angeles. The soundtrack is composed by Beatie Wolfe and Brian Eno.

As a lover of vinyl but also an environmental activist, Wolfe and REM's Michael Stipe released the world’s first commercially available bioplastic 12” in support of EarthPercent which sold out within 5 minutes. This bioplastic vinyl, an ecological design solution by Evolution Music, is a genuinely revolutionary moment for both the music industry and record collectors, offering a non-fossil fuel future for vinyl recordings that globally is c180 million LPs (or 30,000 tonnes of PVC) a year. The eco vinyl features Wolfe’s track “Oh My Heart” which was performed live at the Nobel Prize Summit and also became the soundtrack to “Smoke and Mirrors”.

Safeguarding the world’s most valuable music. The Global Music Vault (a seed bank equivalent for music) has invited Beatie Wolfe to be part of its Proof of Concept for safeguarding the world's most valuable music using green and durable storage technology. Beatie’s music will be included alongside the Polar Music Prize, The National Library of New Zealand, International Library of African Music and the International Music Council

Trees & Seas. Have you ever wondered how the tools of your trade can be crafted with the climate in mind? Artist Beatie Wolfe was inspired to explore just that via her guitar and its materials, taking us on a journey from CalFire’s reclaimed urban wood initiative with Taylor Guitars to NOAA’s abalone rewilding efforts; looking at how we can build new sustainable circular economies, while drawing wisdom from the true custodians of the land

The Limited Edition Stamp-Sheet. Artistic inventors Beatie Wolfe & Money Mark present an “A-Z of California’s Flora, Fauna and Funga” stamp-sheet & poster composed of 26 illustrations representing key species of the three kingdoms in the Golden State.

Not only was the beautiful limited edition print designed to make good on decades of Tri-State centric A-Zs in schools by reflecting the true wildlife of California, but it was also designed to promote inclusive "fauna, flora and funga" language and ensure that fungi - which are critical to all life on Earth - are integrated into future conservation strategies. Within this A-Z, the abalone takes a central role as a critical species of California that is under severe threat with Beatie Wolfe involved in NOAA’s rewilding conservation efforts

A contemplation on sun and shade. Beatie Wolfe and Aaron Rose present Solar Signs, an intermedia display of shadow poetry and sun prints. Solar-powered and made from only three ingredients: recycled letters, the sun, and time, the piece captures shadow words revealed as the sun hits the hidden letters, celebrating nature's art and power to create on its own timescale, in ways that human beings often can't see or control. This minimalist art piece also serves as a poignant contemplation on sun and shade for those living in urban heat islands exacerbated by the climate crisis