Standing at over one metre tall, James Lim says his dramatic piece plays on the popular corporate buzz phrase “boiling the ocean”, meaning to take on an impossible task.

The designer says the work is a comment on global warming and how climate change has progressed since the 1940s when neon lighting became popular in advertising.

“I’m a bit nostalgic about neon, it reminds me of a less complicated time. I decided to use a fun, light medium to communicate a serious message – the danger of climate change denial.”

One Degree is one of more than 200 works on display at UNSW Art & Design’s ANNUAL 2015, the largest national showcase of graduate works, which opens across multiple sites at UNSW’s Paddington campus and runs until 12 December.

View a slideshow of works from the exhibition.