entry into force of the paris agreement (2020) is a document from another series, the “Free Republic of California” and posits the secession of California from the United States of America, with Sternberg creating an entire constellation of artefacts for the fledgling state, ranging from a full constitution and a state budget to national symbols, a historical timeline and various official papers and documents, of which the notional republic’s ratification of the Paris Agreement is one. It was Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal of the U.S. from the treaty that provided impetus for this particular piece: “The U.S. departure from the Paris Agreement furthered the short-term narcissism of one person over the long-term survival of the entire world. In an attempt to salvage environmental diplomatic standing, California will join the Agreement … as one step towards a sustainable environment.” The reality of political malfeasance, then, especially with regards to the issue of ecological sustainability, underscores the urgency of Sternberg’s environmental canvases. If one individual’s heedlessness possessed the ability to impact the free world’s terms of engagement with our climate and ecosystems, perhaps the abnegation of human agency and logic in something so fundamental as the creative act is but the sensible, ultimate solution.