Creating Climate Art That Goes Viral: Benjamin Von Wong’s Cultural Hacking Playbook

In this episode of Climate Shifted, host Eva Frye speaks with Benjamin Von Wong, an environmental artist and activist who creates large-scale art installations to make climate issues accessible to wider audiences. Benjamin shares how he uses familiar cultural metaphors to draw people into climate conversations, strategically places his art to influence decision-makers, and approaches climate work from love rather than duty. Learn how his installations like the four-story "Turn Off the Plastic Tap" sculpture and "Biodiversity Jenga" use recognizable concepts to make complex environmental issues instantly understandable, and discover his insights on creating sustainable activism practices that avoid burnout.

Transcript available here

Key Topics

• Using popular cultural metaphors to make climate issues more accessible
• Strategic placement of art installations to influence policy decisions
• Transitioning from duty-based climate work to love-based activism
• Creating large-scale art that requires no words to explain
• Building relationships instead of chasing social media algorithms
• Developing sustainable activism practices to avoid burnout
• Using art as a "top of funnel" to draw new people into climate conversations

Quotes

"I try to think of popular metaphors or popular cultural tropes that I can hijack." - Benjamin Von Wong

"Coming at things from a place of love, it's almost like a privilege to be able to show up and to offer yourself in the fullest most complete way." - Benjamin Von Wong

"My role is to simply provide a piece of art that is as universal as possible that any organization or even a company or a government, regardless of where they are on the journey, can find utility in what I'm creating." - Benjamin Von Wong

"The ultimate goal of mine is to be able to constantly create work that requires no words to explain." - Benjamin Von Wong

"As climate professionals, we spend a lot of time thinking about regeneration and sustainability for the outside world. I think we also need to put up a mirror every so often and think about how are we making our work and career path sustainable and regenerative." - Benjamin Von Wong

People & Organizations Mentioned

• Benjamin Von Wong - Environmental artist and activist
• United Nations Environmental Assembly - Venue for the "Turn Off the Plastic Tap" installation
• Sir David Attenborough - Mentioned as an influential environmentalist

Notable Art Installations Discussed

• Turn Off the Plastic Tap: A four-story tall sculpture resembling a faucet spewing plastic trash, installed at the United Nations Environmental Assembly where delegates were voting on plastic treaties. The installation gave physical form to the phrase "turning off the plastic tap" used in negotiations.
  
  
• Biodiversity Jenga: A two-and-a-half story tall Jenga tower where each block represents a different ecosystem, demonstrating how removing elements of biodiversity could lead to collapse. Created with 200 students who made 150 animal figures to populate the installation.
  
  
• Straw-pocalypse: An installation made of 168,000 plastic straws, illustrating what happens when we pour plastics into the ocean.
  
  
• Mermaid on Plastic Bottles: An installation featuring a mermaid on 10,000 plastic bottles to raise awareness about plastic pollution.
  
  

JUICY BITS: Takeaways for Climate Communicators

1. Make it irresistible: Create environmental messaging that invites curiosity instead of hitting people over the head with information.
   
   
2. Approach climate work from love, not duty: When you connect with what you're protecting and approach climate work from love rather than obligation, activism becomes sustaining rather than draining.
   
   
3. Use familiar metaphors: Leverage recognizable concepts (like Jenga) as shortcuts to make complex problems instantly understandable - the art should require no words to explain.
   
   
4. Think ecosystem, not individual: Remember that your work is part of a broader ecosystem of solutions. Focus on the role you can play rather than trying to solve everything yourself.
   
   
5. Distribution matters: Package your work so it's easy for journalists and organizations to share with their followers, ensuring the right eyes see your work without relying on fickle algorithms.
   
   

Call to Action

• Subscribe to Climate Shifted wherever you listen to podcasts
• Follow @climateshifted on all social media platforms
• Share this episode with friends interested in climate communication
• Check out Benjamin Von Wong's work at unforgettablelabs.com or by searching "Von Wong" online
• RSVP for the Climate Shifted launch party "Resilience: Stories of Renewal" on April 25th at KALW Radio Station in San Francisco at climateshifted.com or https://lu.ma/ok1v6rxd

Credits

• Executive Producer & Host - Eva Frye
• Technical Producers - Mateus Salgado, Ryan Shuken
• Audio engineer - Gianna Scioletti
• Project management - Sarah Clayton