concept: Solar Sphere – Power of Cryosphere

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image: Hanspeter Wespi
 
This art project is a collaboration of the artists Yvonne Weber and Hanspeter Wespi with Prof. Michael Lehning of the CRYOS Laboratory at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
 
Imagine, in a snow-covered valley, a sphere of approx. Ø10m, luminous, driven upwards by the first rays of the sun. Like the stars, it moves in the sky during the day, to hover above the ground again in the evening, gloving in the dark. A floating object, self-sufficient, driven by the sun and the reflections of its rays through the snow. A magical spectacle, repeated daily, which we witness and which gives us the courage and perspective to go into the future.
As the sphere is a symbol of perfection and archetype of life and striving for wholeness, the art project refers also to the life-giving power of the sun and its interaction with the cryosphere. The cryosphere reflects light, a lot of light! Its albedo (reflectivity of sunlight) is up to 90%, while water and soil absorb 80-90% of the radiation. The cryosphere must be protected, it makes our planet habitable. The project aims to raise awareness of the importance of the cryosphere for all the life on this planet, its beauty and its enormous potential to create solar energy.
 
The project was presented to the public at the event Wunschschloss 2022 in Thun / Switzerland. Wunschschloss is an initiative of «StrategieDialog21». The foundation promotes exchange between culture, media, politics, business and science on socially relevant topics in Switzerland.