Can the Sun Lie?

• Main Author: Schuppli, Susan
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Arctic; Climate change
• Online Access: https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/18391/; https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/18391/1/CSL-HKW.jpg; http://susanschuppli.com/exhibition/can-the-sun-lie/

“Can the sun lie?” asked a US court in 1886 when reflecting upon the truth claims of emergent forms of photographic evidence. A historic question that is forcefully reanimated by current climate change debates, particularly with respect to indigenous storytelling traditions. In the Canadian Arctic the sun is setting many kilometres further west along the horizon and the stars are no longer where they should be. Sunlight is behaving differently in this part of the world as the warming Arctic air causes temperature inversions and throws the setting sun off-kilter. “Can the sun lie? explores the longstanding dispute between lay knowledge and scientific expertise and claims to truth that turn on the material evidence proffered by nature itself.