Andy Sewell » Slowly and Then All at Once

What is the precise moment when problems become clear, and the strategies to address and solve them also become apparent? When does the cost of inaction become too high? What prevents those in power from taking the necessary steps to resolve the issue? What can be done to help future generations? What is the current impact of climate change on young people?
These are just a few of the questions that Andy Sewell’s Slowly and Then All at Once aims to bring to the surface. The work is rooted in the climate crisis and the broader contemporary debate surrounding it, with the goal of redirecting attention to the ever-present, though often unevenly experienced, feeling of being immersed in a climate and ecological crisis. The project explores the intertwined relationships between different forms of power, both bottom-up and top-down. It combines photographs of climate protests, high-profile climate diplomacy negotiations, and debates with more personal images, creating a visual diary of the artist’s day-to-day surroundings. According to Sewell, we live in an era defined by a real breakdown of the system, staggering inequality, and deeply inadequate political representation. With Slowly and Then All at Once, the aim is to counteract the sense of surrender that can arise in such an oppressive situation by creating something with physicality, rhythm, and intensity—something that pushes beyond the dead ends of cynicism and resignation.