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Exit
An immersive installation that investigates global human migrations, updated to coincide with Cop21 in December 2015.

World population, each pixel represents one thousand people. Photo © Luc Boegly
World population, each pixel represents one thousand people. Photo © Luc Boegly
One hundred twenty-four million people were displaced by floods between January 2006 and December 2014. Photo © Luc Boegly
One hundred twenty-four million people were displaced by floods between January 2006 and December 2014. Photo © Luc Boegly
There are currently about 19.5 million refugees worldwide, and more than 38 million IDPs. Photo © Luc Boegly
There are currently about 19.5 million refugees worldwide, and more than 38 million IDPs. Photo © Luc Boegly

Global populations are unstable and on the move. Unprecedented numbers of migrants are leaving their countries for economic, political and environmental reasons. Exit, immerses the viewer in a dynamic presentation of data documenting contemporary human movement. Statistics documenting population shifts are not always neutral and the multiple efforts to collect them are decentralized and incomplete. Here the data are repurposed to build a narrative about global migration and its causes. The viewer enters a circular room and is surrounded by a panoramic video projection of a globe which rolls around the room printing maps as it spins. The maps are made from data which has been collected from a variety of sources, geocoded, statistically analyzed, re-processed through multiple programming languages and translated visually. The presentation is divided into narratives concerning population shifts, remittances, political refugees, natural disaster and sea-level rise and endangered languages.

Originally completed in 2008, EXIT has been fully updated to coincide with Cop21, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change and reflects data from 2015. On view at the Palais Tokyo in Paris from November 25, 2015 – January 10, 2016.

Population and urban migration. Photo © Luc BoeglyPopulation and urban migration. Photo © Luc Boegly

Explore the project video here.