Change Atlas

Miami-based artist and researcher Sue Montoya is creating an investigative mixed-media installation that examines the impact of rising sea levels on the communities and ecosystem of Miami-Dade County.

Sue Montoya

Paolo Cirio

The project looks at the human costs, policies, and speculations tied to “Miami Forever,” a 400-million dollar bond expected to mitigate the consequences of climate change in the city.

With artist Paolo Cirio as her mentor, Montoya works with research to document and represent the strategies employed to allay climate change effects. She also delves into the network of financial, political, and social impact of climate change on Miami’s ecologies as well as its communities and economies. The two met for a concentrated work-stay at the ICA Miami in February 2020, followed by a presentation on the process of working on the piece, originally titled Rising Tides, as well as a public workshop.

Sue Montoya, Forecast Forum 2019. Photo: Camille Blake

As the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the final production of the project, Montoya continued her research, and changed the work’s title to Change Atlas to reflect new aspects introduced to the initial piece.

The installation at the Forecast Festival will combine a collection of research material, evidence, and artifacts in a series of video montages and atlases. The work also comprises a series of stills from a six-hour film in which the artist documented herself as she traced 20 miles of coastline from Krome Avenue to the Miami Circle. Here, Miami serves as a symbol of prioritizing capital accumulation, furthering cultural erasure and economic disparities.

Forecast Forum 2019. Photo: Camille Blake

Sue Montoya, Forecast Forum 2019. Photo: Camille Blake

Sue Montoya, Rising Tides (detail), Forecast Forum 2019. Photo: Camille Blake

Paolo Cirio and Sue Montoya at the fourth Forecast Forum, 2019

Cirio said: “Sue Montoya’s work taps into the one of the most urgent challenge that humanity faces today. Climate change will bring destruction in all aspects of our life and society. […] Starting with the investigation and the collection of archive material, Montoya’s work has the potential to bring ‘climate justice’ by intervening directly in the making of environmental and urban plans, and yet all of this through compelling visual and conceptual art, thereby truly expanding the role of documentary and artists in society.”

Watch Sue Montoya and Paolo Cirio in conversation with curator Blanca de la Torre, moderated by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, at the fourth Forecast Festival, 2021