At Emerson Contemporary, Hurricane Lost Asks Visitors to Contemplate Climate Change

This winter, Emerson Contemporary’s Media Art Gallery will house eight sculptural video forms spanning the space’s 1,700-square-foot floor plan and rising up to meet its 20-foot ceilings. Hurricane Lost, an exhibition by Boston-based artist Georgie Friedman, is a fully immersive installation that speaks to climate change and extreme weather.

The video forms of Hurricane Lost, on view from January 27 through April 4, are based on the shapes of hurricane cloud walls, while their spatial layout mimics circular wind patterns. Indie sound artist Radio Sloan created the soundscape that swirls around visitors as they make their way through the visual storm. As visitors navigate the curved sculptures, they are invited to think about their relationship to both the natural and built environment.

“Despite its meditative, aesthetically provocative presentation, Hurricane Lost serves as a powerful call to action, as it asks whether we can imagine a different, better future. And if so, whether we are willing to change the way we act and make the choices needed to get us there,” said Emerson Contemporary Distinguished Curator-in-Residence Leonie Bradbury.

According to Bradbury, Hurricane Lost, presented in conjunction with the 2020-2021 national Feminist Art Coalition (FAC) project, addresses the climate crisis by provoking a visceral, emotive response, as opposed to scientific data.

Friedman is an interdisciplinary artist whose projects include large-scale video installations, single- and multi-channel videos, and photographic series. She is interested in our psychological and societal relationships to natural phenomena, and investigates a range of powerful atmospheric and oceanic conditions.

A graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Friedman is a lecturer at MIT. She has been commissioned to create site-specific public video art pieces, and has exhibited venues including Geneva International Film Festival; The Cleveland Museum of Art; MFA, Boston; Burlington (Vt.) City Arts, City Hall Park; Peabody Essex Museum, Union College, deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum, Boston City Hall, Transylvania University, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, College of the Holy Cross, and The Armory Center for the Arts.

A free virtual exhibition tour with Friedman and Bradbury will take place Wednesday, January 17, 6:30 pm, and private in-person tours are available by appointment. The Media Art Gallery is located at 25 Avery Street, Boston. To RSVP, or for more information, visit emersoncontemporary.org.