A multi-screen digital artwork by John Munro, commissioned on behalf of the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum, part of the United Nations Environment Programme. Musical composition created by Giovanni Agusta.

Experiential and crypto Artist John Munro, creator of numerous world-first projects and founder of Immersive International, has taken virtual landscapes as a canvas for sculptural data sets that celebrate statistics from the five decades since The Stockholm Declaration of 1972 was drawn up.

“50-50” was exhibited in Kungsträdgården Stockholm, as part of the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum’s Digital Tech & Innovation Expo, TRANSFORMERS, coinciding with the UN’s Stockholm +50 conference. It was unveiled by His Excellency the President of the General Assembly Abdulla Shahid on June 1st 2022.

Munro, Immersive International and art patron Jonathan Lett, who has funded the project, will create and auction multiple digital versions of this work as spatial NTFs,  the proceeds of this auction will go to the United Nations Environment Programme and their nominated charities.

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The Work

Produced in collaboration with the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment, the artworks highlight the progress that has been made in increasing the protection of Key Biodiversity Areas around the world.

Over the past fifty years, every corner of the globe has made strides to protect these crucial areas and they contribute significantly to the maintained biodiversity of our planet.

The installation features a musical score by Giovanni Agusta and aims to inspire with data celebrating the positive impact of the UN’s Environmental Programme.The 5 screen artwork uses digital ‘living’ virtual landscapes and sculptural abstracted forms as a canvas for datasets given by UN scientists. The installation also features alarming data on the Material Footprint of the world, revealing a concerning trend regarding raw materials being extracted from the Earth over the past 50 years. 

It ends on moment to lead viewers to UNEP.org and Keybiodiversityareas.org, where people from all areas of life can see who they can join in to identify and protect Key Biodiversity Areas themselves.

Abdulla Shahid, President of the United Nations General Assembly said: "The 50-50 art piece uses real data to articulate the condition of our changing environment, the hope to conserve and restore our ecosystems and a vision for future action. I congratulate John Munro and Giovanni Agusta for their creativity and the scientists for providing the datasets behind this legacy project that embraces the emerging art forms of the Metaverse. It inspires us to act towards a better future."

Munro said: “I wanted to highlight the positive impact of five decades of climate action in key biodiversity areas with sculptural visions in nature and on nature. The works imagine the outcome of a unified goal of mixing our territories, collaborating under the vision of protection of the natural environment”.

Each spatial NFT of this work is created to be displayed on a portrait screen format. Each of these living, breathing, scenes will be taken from the Stockholm multi-screen installation. A single NFT will focus on one landscape and run for hours as time, as weather and atmospheric conditions interact with the visual sculptural elements in the scene. Recommended hardware for display will be included in the package.

This work bridges the concept of physical and digital art ownership and presents buyers with a unique opportunity to invest in a new medium, while providing investment to support a healthy, sustainable and integrated environment for the future of our planet.

The exclusive digital art pieces of 50-50 will be for sale by auction, with all proceeds going to support the United Nations Environment Programme and its dedicated charities in their work on climate action.

Artworks

A small selection of some of the Artworks

BIOME 1

Worldwide Marine BIOME. Humans depend on a healthy ocean for our well-being, economic prosperity and to help us adapt to a changing climate.

BIOME 2

Worldwide Freshwater BIOME. Key Biodiversity Areas covered by protected areas have expanded by over 57% since 2000.

BIOME 3

Worldwide Terrestrial BIOME. The positive impacts of protection are apparent even when protected land areas are used by humans.

UN Stockholm
+50 initiative

At Stockholm+50, the world will commemorate 50 years of multilateral environmental action, marking half a century since the historic 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.

On this occasion, the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment (UN-SPBF) will convene its Fourth High-Level Global Session in Stockholm, in support of the UN Stockholm+50 meeting. The work of UN-SPBF towards and during Stockholm+50 focuses on the transformative actions required to put the world on track to meet multilateral environmental goals; the technologies and innovations to power greener and more equitable transitions; and the enabling conditions to pave the way. The UN-SPBF will look at how to turn the needle in the next 50 years, the technologies that will take us there, and the regulatory frameworks, financing and incentives required.

Learn more about UN Stockholm+50 initiative at the official website

About the UN Science Policy Business Forum on the Environment

The UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the environment is the UN Environment Programme’s premier multisector convening platform, encouraging ‘Technology, Partnership and Integrated Solutions for Nature’. The Forum is a catalyst for nature-positive solutions and works towards a fairer, more equitable world.

It builds on the power of partnership to scale up solutions, ones that are driven by advances in science and technology, empowering policies, and innovative financing. In October 2021, the Forum launched its first regional mechanism in Asia-Pacific in conjunction with the 4th Session of the Forum of Ministers and Environment Authorities, hosted by the Republic of Korea. Preparations for the launch of SPBF in the Africa region is underway, in cooperation with the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN).

Learn more about the UN Science Policy Business Forum on the Environment at the official website

About Immersive International

Immersive International is a multidisciplinary creative studio and immersive design specialist who has been working at the forefront of innovative experiential design for almost two decades.

The studio was founded by CEO and Chief Creative Officer John Munro in 2004. Having designed some of the world’s most impactful and mesmerising multidimensional live experiences in public, private and commercial spaces, they have established a reputation for developing the use of new technologies to expand the art of immersive storytelling. Working collaboratively with some of the best global talent in conceptual design, visual art, animation, creative technology, and innovative spatial storytelling, they are changing the way stories are told and experienced.

Creators

Artist

JOHN MUNRO

John Munro,  installation and crypto artist, graduated from Goldsmiths, London.

The works of experiential and crypto artist John Munro explore many territories across art, spatial installations, experiential narrative, stage shows, animation and film. He has been a pioneer of experiential art and design since 2004 and his work often blurs the boundaries between the real, metaverse, interactive, spatially reactive and narrative.

Born in 1976, Munro grew up in Scotland, Nigeria, Dubai, Zimbabwe, Bermuda, Manchester and London. He graduated from Goldsmiths in London, and in 2004 he founded ‘Immersive’ which comprises a large team of creatives, directors, designers, architects and technologists. He is known for creating cultural projects internationally that mix spatial installations with contemporary visual techniques and narratives engaging with all fields of art and design.

John's works have been exhibited and installed in the UK, China, USA, UAE, Switzerland and have been seen and experienced by hundreds of millions of people.

His first major art project was a collaboration with Goldsmiths tutors Terry Rosenberg and Sean Hall at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2003. He went onto show video art at the ICA, VTO, and the 291 Gallery in London. His collaboration with Foster + Partners and Steven Spielberg resulted in the ’Universal Sphere’ in the Comcast HQ. He has created hologram theatrical productions with brands such as IWC and BMW, as well as worked with cultural futurists to create the ‘present’ and ‘future’ of human mobility for EXPO 2020 Dubai. He has led his studio in the creation of installations in the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, the Southbank Centre, Expo 2015 Milan, and numerous other world-first experiences such as the immersive ‘Stadium Screen’ at the 2012 London Olympics opening and closing ceremonies.

John also creates art works for private client commissions on yachts, and other bespoke locations.

His background of design, art and architecture creates timeless installations that are both future proof and genre defining. As the visionary behind his studio’s prolific creative output, John creates experiences that are dedicated to connecting people together on a multi-sensory level.
He has recently been appointed the honour of Senior Creative Advisor to the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum as he is an exponent for how the creative industries can be active advocates for positive change in our world.

John lives and works in Shanghai and London.

Composer

Giovanni Agusta

From an early age, Giovanni Agusta expressed a deep interest in music, sound design, soundscapes, and music production.

In 2005 Giovanni set out on a three-year journey with the World Wildlife Fund as a Wildlife Photographer, capturing the purity and  untouched beauty of the Antarctic, the land disputes between the tribes and government in Papua New Guinea, and the conservation efforts to protect the majestic gorillas of Uganda.

Upon his return, Giovanni furthered his education in sound and music production, where the crafting of audio-visual experiences became his playground. He founded the first immersive music festival ‘Playtime in Paradise’ (South Africa) in 2013 and ‘Era Night Club’ (South Africa), the first fully immersive night club in 2015.

In 2018 he founded Swoon Records and has performed his compositions live across the world, including at Cirque Magique (Antwerp), Space Ibiza (Ibiza), Elrow Music Festival (Barcalona) and Watergate (Berlin). He is also signed with Happy Campers (Netherlands) and released the single ‘C'era una Volta’ in 2018.Giovanni moved to London in 2020 and after a couple of collaborations he joined the Immersive team permanently as Creative Associate & Soundscape Designer.

His focus within the company is on creating bespoke immersive art installations and pushing the boundaries of immersive audio experience across all the company’s projects.

Patron

Jonathan Lett

Jonathan Lett was born in Africa, grew up in Seychelles and was educated in England.

He spent 20 years working in investment banking, most recently as a Managing Director of European Credit Trading for BNP Paribas and Barclays.

For the last five years he has focussed on angel investing, including seeding promising startups, as well as acting as fundraiser and strategic advisor for Africa’s’ largest online bankKuda (#TheBankOfTheFree), which aims to make banking more accessible and affordable. His passion to help people and strive towards a more sustainable future stems from his father who was a surgeon for the UK Overseas Development Agency, and passion for surfing and exploring nature whilst growing up in Seychelles.

He is passionate about giving back and helping save the planet for current and future generations of children across the world, including his daughter who is 4 years old.

Producer

TOMMY LEXEN

Tommy Lexen is the Managing Director of Immersive International, a multidisciplinary creative studio with a reputation for developing the use of new technologies to expand the art of immersive storytelling across the globe.

Originally from Stockholm, he has worked in a variety of leadership roles across the creative industries for almost two decades, directing and producing projects of varying scales for diverse audiences. Most recently he was leading Immersive’s work for The Mobility Pavilion, one of the three signature pavilions at EXPO 2020 in Dubai.

Prior to joining Immersive, he worked at the Tony and Olivier award-winning design studio and production company 59 Productions, producing large-scale experiences including ‘Palace in Motion’, the largest permanent projection-mapping show in the world at the Qasr Al Watan (Palace of the Nation) in Abu Dhabi, ‘A Perfect Harmony’ commissioned for the reopening of the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art in Washington DC and the award-winning virtual reality documentary ‘Grenfell: My Home’ about the community that existed in the Grenfell tower before the fire.

Studio

Immersive International

Immersive International is a multidisciplinary creative studio and immersive design specialist working at the forefront of innovative experiential design for almost two decades. The studio was founded by CEO and Chief Creative Officer John Munro in 2004. 

Having designed some of the world’s most impactful and mesmerising multidimensional live experiences in public, private and commercial spaces, they have established a reputation for developing the use of new technologies to expand the art of immersive storytelling. Working collaboratively with some of the best global talent in conceptual design, visual art, animation, creative technology, and innovative spatial storytelling, they are changing the way stories are told and experienced.