Distant Early Warning

A wall-sized photograph of a snowbound Arctic village fills the gallery: low buildings, a satellite dish, power poles in blue winter light. In front, a long lit table is laid with rows of small photographs and documents, a radio resting among them.
A vintage portable radio sits on a glowing glass table, its dials and grille catching the light. Around it, small photographs and typed cards lie in rows; behind, a projected aerial view of an Arctic coast spreads pale blue channels of ice and water.
Title
Distant Early Warning
Artist
Sharon Daniel
Date
2025
Description
A multimedia installation by Sharon Daniel that traces the climate crisis as lived in Kivalina, an Iñupiat village on a barrier island in northwest Alaska, through oral testimonies, archival images, and ice core scans. A long lit table holds photographs, documents, timelines, and a vintage radio beneath a wall-sized image of the village. Shown in Weather and the Whale at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences, UC Santa Cruz.
Artwork Type
Installation
Digital / New Media
Materiality
Photographic Materials
Audio / Sound
Light
Paper
Climate & Ecology Themes
Sea Level Rise and Flooding
Indigenous Knowledge and Sovereignty
Migration and Displacement
Climate Justice
Concepts
Memory and History
Place and Belonging
Loss and Grief
Methods & Approaches
Oral History / Interview
Archival Research
Storytelling / Narrative Practice
Audience / Engagement Type
Public / General Audience
Location
Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, California
Geographic Scope
International / Global
Rights
Rights held by artist or creator
Website
sharondaniel.net
Affiliated Organizations
Weather and the Whale
UCSC Institute of the Arts and Sciences
Discipline / Field
Arts & Design
Item sets
California Art & Climate Archive
UC Santa Cruz
Media
A wall-sized photograph of a snowbound Arctic village fills the gallery: low buildings, a satellite dish, power poles in blue winter light. In front, a long lit table is laid with rows of small photographs and documents, a radio resting among them.Sharon Daniel, Distant Early Warning
A vintage portable radio sits on a glowing glass table, its dials and grille catching the light. Around it, small photographs and typed cards lie in rows; behind, a projected aerial view of an Arctic coast spreads pale blue channels of ice and water.Sharon Daniel, Distant Early Warning (detail)