Uncommon turns up the heat on Ron DeSantis in melting statue stunt

Florida governor Ron DeSantis is the target of Uncommon’s latest sustainability-centred statue stunt.

Uncommon’s recent environmental awareness efforts are anything but abstract, with instantly translatable portrayals of the consequences of global temperature rises.

On the back of its recent life jacket campaign, Uncommon New York has revealed a piece depicting Ron DeSantis as a life-sized statue made from gallium, with help from production partner m ss ng p eces and climate organisation 350.org.

The installation is a response to Florida's decision to remove references to climate change from state legislation despite increasing expenditure on extreme weather and climate-related impacts.

Sustainability symbolism

Gallium, a substance that melts just above room temperature, was chosen for its experiential wow-factor: as temperatures rise, the statue literally cannot sustain its own existence.

The metaphor is fairly on the nose, but it’s hard to find a better example of the medium being the message.

The campaign brings to mind climate interventions including Greenpeace's giant melting ice installations, Olafur Eliasson's ‘Ice Watch’ and Extinction Rebellion's public performance pieces.

‘DENIAL’ stands out, however, for how unabashedly targeted it is, focusing tightly on a specific political figure.