If you want to admire Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo's
"self-dismantling" installation, you have to hurry (photo by Kelly Winck)

Avezedo has set up her "Melting Men" exhibit in cities all over the world, including Sao Paulo, Havana, Paris, Porto, and Florence. She originally intended for it to shine an ironic light on permanent urban artwork, which has traditionally been fashioned out of marble or bronze. "This work was conceived as a critical view of the official historical monuments," the artist said in an interview. "As the reading and interpretation of an art piece is open, I'm glad it can also speak of urgent matters that threaten our existence on this planet."

Within an hour, this "self-dismantling" installation (which Azevedo also calls a "minimum monument") had melted down to a giant wet spot on the pavement, which in turn quickly evaporated into a cloudless Central European sky.

Public opinion is still divided over whether global warming is even real and what - if anything - should be done about it. As the debate drags on, substantive changes in the way we choose to live and conduct our business are hard to make out. Perhaps that is because we think we still have plenty of time to decide what to do. The "ice men" may have thought so too, and yet their time ran out very quickly indeed. How much do we still have?

 
Berlin's beautiful Gendarmenmarkt square