Visual art inspired by climate change—An analysis of audience reactions to 37 artworks presented during 21st UN climate summit in Paris

Sculptures, as opposed to other types of artworks, were perceived as of higher quality. The level of reflection on the artwork was higher for artworks that challenged social norms and that included something personal to identify with. Discussion This paper reports results from analyses conducted in a unique dataset collecting audience responses to 37 different climate change-related artworks and art events displayed during one big climate change art event coinciding with the climate summit in Paris. The study was con- ducted to provide more indications for how climate change inspired art relates to psychologi- cal responses in its audience and by which mechanisms on the individual level these responses might be explained. Furthermore, the design of the study with surveying audiences at a large number of artworks allowed to combine this with an analysis of how artwork differences affect the person-level psychological variables. While acknowledging the exploratory and correlational nature of this research, the analysis found that the emotional reactions to the artworks, both negative and positive, were indirectly related to more climate policy support, mediated through reflections on the artwork. Further- more, we demonstrate not just the role emotions may play in climate change communication through art but also define what characteristics of an artwork may make it more impactful. It is, for example, highly remarkable that positive emotions and reflections on the artwork are positively related to that the art highlights something personal to identify with. This supports

our understanding that what makes environmental art impactful is the emotional and personal connection it can create to a topic that is abstract and distant for many people [55, 56]. As was described by Gabrys and Yusoff [57], the arts possibly open up a space in which a freer encounter with scientific findings is possible. This is in alignment with findings by Jacobs et al. [58], who describe in their case study on a climate change art exhibition that it is vital to give people the chance to discover their own meaning within the art and climate change. In more detail, the analysis found the following relationships between personal responses and climate change art: First, the audience reported emotional reactions to most artworks. The spectrum of emotional responses reported is large and varies from artwork to artwork. Inter- estingly, it does not seem to matter much for the potential effect if the emotions were positive or negative: both kinds of reactions seem to be positively related to reported policy support. Moreover, art seems to affect people through several pathways: If people perceive the artwork of high quality, this relates to deeper reported reflections about the artwork. When this reflec- tion process is going on, it is positively related to policy support for climate change mitigation, especially in people who do not already show such strong support because of strong environ- mental attitudes, as indicated by the interaction analysis. Even if this conclusion is based on

correlational data in our study, this is in alignment with the general idea that emotions moti- vate behavior through a commitment and relevance function [40] and findings of Leiserowitz [59], who found that climate change imagery and emotions influence risk perceptions and pol- icy support. We also found support for findings that awareness of consequences can be increased through environmental art [53]. The artworks apparently prompted moments of reflection, questioning one’s position in and contribution to a problem. These findings on meaning-making and reflections are consistent with models by Locher [20], Leder [15, 16], and others mentioned by Pelowski and colleagues [13]. With respect to differences between artworks, they were strongest in the emotional reaction in the audiences. Given the large variety of artistic expressions, this is not surprising. Some of the artwork features were particularly related to different emotional reactions, but also differ- ent levels of perceived artistic quality and level of reflections triggered. These findings give a PLOS ONE Visual art inspired by climate change — An analysis of audience reactions PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247331 February 19, 2021 12 / 18