About the project
In 2005 artist Víctor Solís photographed a batch of penguin figurines in the snowy mountaintops of the Nevado de Toluca, about an hour west of his native Mexico City. He had carved and glazed each four-inch ceramic figurine. Friends who saw the realistically-staged photographs wondered how he ever got real penguins up to the Nevado.
The idea of a colony of displaced penguins was born: Solís took the penguins on the road, staging an imaginary migration from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina to Tijuana, Mexico. The penguins traverse a range of ecosystems throughout Latin America, trekking over glaciers and through forests, beaches, deserts, and cities.
In the resulting collection of digital photographs, Escenarios Sobre Cero, Solís explores the consequences of climate change. As the penguins search for a new nesting ground, he raises the question of what human beings are doing to the planet.
Behind the scenes: Meet the penguins
Inspired by the Emperor Penguin, Solís crafted the colony of forty-eight penguins from ceramic. The figurines measure four inches in height, though they look a lot bigger in the photos.
Solís plotted the penguins' imaginary migration as a journey from Patagonia, Argentina to the US-Mexico Border. He photographed the colony in forty-two locations across Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil.
