Jenny Holzer supports Parley Maldives with limited edition hand-gilded surfboards
In collaboration with internationally acclaimed American artist Jenny Holzer, Parley has produced 10 Palladium-gilded surfboards with screen-printed gold leaf that reads “THIS ECSTASY,” a phrase excerpted from Walter Pater’s book, The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry, on the earnest pursuit of the aesthetics of life. Each board in the edition is gilded by hand and signed on the verso, in a nod to the Silver Surfer.
These surfboards unite the worlds of art and surfing, encouraging eco-innovation, imagination and collaboration to protect our oceans. The surf community, whose knowledge of and love for the ocean is unparalleled, is as vital to the Parley mission as working with artists, who synthesize the cause into a creative call for action.
The surfboard edition proceeds will go to the Parley AIR Station, an educational hub located in the Maldives, as well as towards a waste collection concept, Gaaf Alif atoll. Parley Maldives, which functions independently of political parties and religious institutions, customizes and optimizes operational schemes according to the unique needs of the region in addressing plastic pollution and related ocean threats.
The Parley Maldives Atoll AIR Station will include the development and implementation of a Parley AIR Station Park in Hulhumale offering participants an immersive approach to environmental education and marine conservation. The permanent learning and innovation center will have space to host educational talks, community and hands-on learning sessions, activities and workshops led by Parley and our partner organizations in the Maldives.
In addition to the AIR Station, the Parley AIR Atoll Initiative in the Maldives will create and implement an innovative model for avoiding and intercepting all plastic waste while generating clean energy and drinking water. This initiative utilizes proven new technology to create a scalable solution for plastic waste and provide immediate community benefits that will maximize participation in the program.
The implementation of this initiative will address up to 100% of the plastic waste produced in the target region through three project components: Plastic Collection and Recycling, Local Clean Water and Energy Production, and Education and Engagement. Recyclable waste plastics will be recycled and non recyclable plastics and other waste will be incinerated for clean power and drinking water. This pioneering project will be a blueprint for a local, viable solution to the plastic crisis in the Maldives.
JENNY HOLZER
Jenny Holzer is an American conceptual and installation artist whose work deploys text in public spaces across an array of media, including electronic signs, carved stone, paintings, billboards, and prints. Holzer invites public debate and illuminates social and political justice. Celebrated for her inimitable use of language and projects in the public sphere, Holzer creates a powerful tension between the realms of feeling and knowledge, with a practice that encompasses individual and collective experiences of power and violence, vulnerability and tenderness.
