Art Utopia Wiki

Electoral Campaign — Isaac Cordal, Berlin

Many small cement men in suits by Isaac Cordal stand in a flooded patch of pavement in Berlin, only their heads and shoulders above the water, packed together as if in a meeting.
Artwork FileBerlin · Germany

Electoral Campaign

SeenMay 2011

Isaac Cordal · 2011 · Berlin

Photo from the Street Art Utopia archive; photographer and capture date not recorded. Artwork: Isaac Cordal. Full photograph shown.

A cluster of tiny cement men in suits stands in a puddle, apparently deep in discussion. Spanish artist Isaac Cordal set the scene in Berlin in spring 2011 (his Flickr caption says April; its photo data says 14 May) as “Electoral Campaign”, part of his series Follow the Leaders. Years later the photo went viral as “Politicians Discussing Global Warming”, a title the artist did not give it. Source Source Source Source Checked

Seen May 2011 — the artist’s Flickr photo is captioned April 2011 but carries a 14 May 2011 date, and Laughing Squid showed it on 17 May 2011. We found no later photo or report of the piece in place. Source Source Reported

💡 4 things to know

  1. The viral title is not hisSocial media users renamed the photo “Politicians Discussing Global Warming”; the work is actually “Electoral Campaign”, part of Follow the Leaders. Source Reported
  2. A spot that floodsAccording to Nonprofit Quarterly, the figures were set in a dip in the pavement that tends to fill with rainwater, which creates the striking image. Source Reported
  3. Gendarmenmarkt, 2011Laughing Squid shared the piece in May 2011 as “Electoral Campaign”, an installation by Isaac Cordal in Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt (spelled “Gendarmarkt” in its caption). Source Reported
  4. Part of a bigger seriesFollow the Leaders also travelled to De Panne, Brussels, Nantes and Bogotá; Cordal says the figures stand for businessmen who run the global social spectrum. Source Reported

📍 Where it is

Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin, Germany, according to Laughing Squid (the caption spells it “Gendarmarkt”). The figures are no longer documented there. Source Reported

Open in Maps

Opens a map search for the square. The exact spot of the puddle is not recorded.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 2011Apr

    Cordal photographs “electoral campaign” at Gendarmenmarkt

  2. 201117 May

    Laughing Squid shares the installation

  3. 201426 Mar

    PRI The World corrects the viral title

  4. 20148 Apr

    Nonprofit Quarterly on the photo going viral under a new name

  5. 20147 May

    Daily Kos reads it as a climate change sculpture

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

✅ The facts

Artist
Isaac Cordal, born 1974 in Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain Source Checked
Title
Electoral Campaign Source Checked
Series
Follow the Leaders Source Source Checked
Viral name
Politicians Discussing Global Warming (given by social media users) Source Checked
Place
Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin Source Reported
Date
April 2011 per the Flickr description and PRI caption; Flickr metadata says taken 14 May 2011 Source Conflicting
Setting
A pavement dip that tends to fill with rainwater Source Reported

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 13 November 2026 · How we verify art