Climate Changing Room III (Panel 32), 2020

The Climate Changing Room iteration of this series consists of five rounded arches that resemble changing screens that have been welded from tubular steel to create ornamental frames. Originally positioned along the boundary between a public beach and the nudist area of Silbersee II in North Rhine-Westphalia for the 2020 exhibition Ruhr Ding: Klima: Urbane Künste Ruhr, these dividers contain malleable fig leaves that can be aligned to minimally cover the body’s intimate areas. Made in response to Germany’s Ruhr area, the work calls attention to global warming as well as the changing social climate that accompanies the current situation. Formerly the epicenter of the country’s industrialization, especially for coal and steel, the region has experienced the long-term impacts of public planning strategies that have influenced Germany’s economic promotion and the resulting environmental destruction. By using steel in the construction of this work, Fudakowski adds to the discourse and branches into discussions of climate action.