Essay by Eric Worrall
The clock counts down to 2030, when apparently we are all doomed.
Residents divided as Aussie council erects $18,000 clock in countdown to ‘doomsday’ deadline
It counts down the days, hours and minutes until a pivotal moment in our fight against climate change. But not all are enjoying the message.
Joe Attanasio
Senior Reporter
Fri 21 February 2025 at 8:06 am AESTA thought-provoking art installation in a major inner-city public garden has continued to spark mixed reactions with locals seemingly divided by the controversial work.
The $18,000 piece features a countdown clock tracking the days, hours, and minutes until 2030 — a pivotal year for climate action in Australia, marked by key national and international targets.
…
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, a City spokesman said the price is “a small part of a modest budget” that goes towards “supporting emerging local artists”. In comparison, the Ouroboros work in Canberra — based on the ancient story of a snake eating its own tail— cost a reported $14 million.
…
n Fitzroy, a young woman walking through the park on Thursday appeared to enjoy the clock. “It’s kind of cool … it makes you think,” she told 7News. “The people in this area probably already know what’s going on,” her companion said. “Maybe it could have been put somewhere else, like Brighton.”
…
On the other end of the scale, one local man hit out at what he described as “bulls**t in my face”.
“Truthfully, it’s just crap,” he said. “I’d like to just keep living peacefully and happily and enjoy this park.”
…
Read more: https://au.news.yahoo.com/residents-divided-as-aussie-council-erects-18000-clock-in-countdown-to-doomsday-deadline-220605666.html
Does this art installation motivate you to reduce your personal CO2 emissions?
I’ve got to say the council didn’t receive a lot for the money they paid to the artist.
The plinth was already present – it apparently used to belong to a statue of Queen Victoria which disappeared under mysterious circumstances 120 years ago. The University of Melbourne is nearby, which raises obvious suspicions – I doubt the students of 120 years ago were much different to the students of today.
The doomsday clock appears to be a few pieces of welded steel sheet and cheap square section, an electronic display which looks like it was salvaged from a road work sign, and a $200 solar panel. Other components could include a low cost microcontroller, a display controller and a backup battery inside to keep the numbers ticking.
I’ve made devices with similar components as part of my professional work. The materials required to make something like this can be sourced for a lot less than $18000.
But I guess the issue of receiving value for money is for local government voters to decide.
I’m curious whether the clock thing will run out of electricity in winter, at 37.8º South, Melbourne winters tend to be overcast and dreary. The sun drops low in the sky, and the length of day drops to a minimum of around nine hours.
Those big bright LED signs consume a fair bit of electricity, possibly too much for the attached solar panel, if that is what it is. The “clock” also appears to be overshadowed by trees, though some of the trees in Fitzroy Gardens are deciduous which might help a bit.
If anyone happens to notice the clock running out of juice, or sees someone sneaking in with a battery pack to give it a boost, please send us a photo for our entertainment – though it is possible there is a fossil fuel sourced grid backup power supply built into the plinth, just in case the solar panel doesn’t cover the climate doomsday clock’s energy needs.
Correction (EW): h/t Nick Stokes – the statue is in Fitzroy’s Edinburgh Gardens, not Fitzroy Gardens.
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We just got a bit of a reprieve here since this very site quoted the UN climate chief last year as warning us the big collapse of the environment/civilization/planet from climate change would occur in 2026. So with a year left to reverse this looming disaster , if we all buckle down and switch to EVs, public transit, wind and solar energy, a vegan diet, strictly rail travel, heat pumps, etc. we should be able to save the not only the human race but the rest of Planet Earth into the bargain.
Eating vegan in Melbourne will probably keep you alive longer, some of those cafes are a little careless with reheating leftovers from the previous night.
I wonder if the city of Melbourne would have allowed (and paid for) an artist to make and install a piece referring to a religious “end times” cult? Do you have separation of church and state Downunder? Actually, it wouldn’t matter if you do have such laws, because that’s exactly what this “art work” is – an electronic automated version of someone standing on a street corner with an “the end is near” sign! And just like those end-timers, this should also be ignored.
Mid-summer in Melbourne was much hotter over 100 years ago, before they even had an airport and before Ehrich Weiss (Harry Houdini) took Australia’s first flying machine into the air (a Voisin biplane on March 18, 1910, just north of Melbourne).
Did they say what was going to happen when the clock read 0000:00:00:00?
Where’s The Kaboom? There Was Supposed To Be An Earth-Shattering Kaboom!
I wish I could upvote that again…..
I suspect it will be like Glacier National Park, the clock thing will be quietly disappeared when it becomes embarrassing.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/01/01/glacier-national-park-quietly-removed-gone-by-2020-signs-in-2019-update/
How can this be? According the Al Gore: The GoreAcle all life on Earth was exterminated in 2012? Are you saying he lied?
It is written: “The garden installation has done exactly what it was supposed to do – get people talking.”
Had they used a hand lettered sign and a dead rat (climate change killed the poor guy) people would still be talking.
Then they could have used the money for Vitamin A in a poor area where there is a deficiency of said vitamin causing blindness.
A pathetic waste of money, energy, materials, and time. Sadly not the only example of wasted energy in these days of supposed conservation and ‘that’ superior intelligence. When will they ever learn?.
Ah, but you see, this is art. Any old schmoe could build this, or gaffer tape a banana to a wall, and it’s just junk. But if some pretentious prat with a B.A. turns up and declares it to be art, well, then it’s worth thousands to millions, depending on how far up the pretentious prat hierarchy they are.
It could be a countdown to the end of the Narrative. Too hopeful, perhaps. More likely a countdown to the end of First-World status for Down Under at the present trajectory.
Biggest question I have about that “doomsday” clock: Does it automatically correct for daylight savings time changes, which I understand are in effect for only some regions of Australia, including Melbourne?
That becomes very important when the clock indicates humanity has less than one hour remaining before 00:00:00.
/sarc
Phffft
I have a climate DOUBLE DOOMSDAY CLOCK. It counts down to 2050 because not only will we all be doomed by 2030 we will be double doomed by 2050.
Repeat after me: “It’s worse than we thought…”
Concrete plinth, Chinese PV panel, clock chips, and display, possibly Chinese steel from Australian Iron ore. What was the carbon cost of that useless marker?
This just in: 2/23/2025 Victoria’s $18,000 Climate Doomsday Clock Vandalized
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/victorias-18000-climate-change-doomsday-clock-vandalised-5815118?ea_src=frontpage&ea_cnt=a&ea_med=latest-news-posts-1
Gee, I hope they used low-VOC paint.