Guest
There is no such thing as cold. Cold is not a thing or a force or a property that exists and is measurable in its own right—it’s simply the absence of heat. Cooling is thus the sensation of loss as heat is transferred elsewhere. But that understanding is relatively recent: generations of scientists, including many of the big names—Leonardo da Vinci, Francis Bacon, Galileo Galilei, Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton—all tried, and failed to establish where cold comes from. Human control of cold is even more recent. Mechanical cooling—refrigeration produced by human artifice, as opposed to the natural chill offered by weather-dependent snow and ice—wasn’t achieved until the mid-1700s, it wasn’t commercialized until the late 1800s, and it wasn’t domesticated until the 1920s. Yet, even in that brief span, cold has transformed the world. Refrigeration has reshaped what we eat, where it’s grown, and what it tastes like, while also redesigning our homes and cities, and remaking our cuisine and health. Air-conditioning has rearranged demography, while removing the rhythm of the seasons. Cold’s power to expand time while compressing space is existential: on the one hand, cryogenic medicine offers the promise of eternal life; on the other, the greenhouse gases emitted in order to maintain our ever-expanding artificial cryosphere are a principal culprit in the disappearance of Earth’s polar regions and glaciers. In this Salon, we will confront the challenges and comforts of cold. Here are some more of the questions that we will ask: Some of the questions we will consider include: What are ice’s delights—and costs? Is cold essential, or simply desirable? What does cold make possible, and what might its absence—a world in no natural ice remains—resemble? Can we chill sustainably? And can rethinking our relationship with cold help us re-make our food system, redesign the built environment, and restore Earth’s atmosphere? Kipp Bradford is a world-renowned innovation expert and design engineer, and teaches at the Harvard University School of Engineering and contributes to the CHAOS Lab at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University. His work merges biology, ecology, and thermodynamics to develop new ways to manage climates at every scale—from personal thermal comfort up to global weather systems. David Gissen is Professor of Architecture and Director of the PhD Program at Yale School of Architecture. His research examines physiological and environmental concepts embedded within modern and late-modern architecture and design. In particular, he studies the manner in which works of architecture shape experiences of health, stability, capacity, and normalcy within built space. Shintaro Okamoto is the creative force behind OKAMOTO STUDIO, a NYC-based artist collective best known to produce artful installations and performances out of crystal clear ice since founded in 2003. Shintaro’s love for both the urban spectacle and the natural wonder is deeply rooted in his bicultural upbringing via his Japanese heritage and his childhood years growing up in Alaska. Joanna Radin is Associate Professor of History of Medicine and History at Yale University. Her research examines the social and technical conditions of possibility for the systems of biomedicine and biotechnology that we live with today. Nicola Twilley is the author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves (Penguin Press, 2024), cohost of Gastropod, the award-winning and popular podcast that looks at food through the lens of science and history, and a frequent contributor to The New Yorker. The presentations will be accompanied by the screening of a series of short videos cut specifically for Salon 52 by: Philippe Rahm, Floris Winckel, Philip Maughan, Marwa Koheji, Wolfgang Ketterle, Michael Wang, Mia Bennett, and Laura Deming. Subscribe for our latest videos and invitations to live events: Explore our collection online: Plan your visit in-person: Commit to art and ideas. Support MoMA by becoming a member today: The comments and opinions expressed in this video are those of the speakers alone, and do not represent the views of The Museum of Modern Art, its personnel, or any artist. #design #art #museumofmodernart #moma #museum #modernart
