The Oil American Dream
Artist Statement
In this 60's American Diner, not all is as it seems. From the whale serving you a cup of oil to the oil rig outside the window, and even the news on the TV. The '60s were a prevalent time for the oil industry in the USA. OPEC was established after the supply and demand for oil rose in 1960. The largest oil spill in American history was in Santa Barbra in 1969 in waters where Humpback whales primarily travel in the summer to breed, and the American Dream was most prevalent due to the Human Rights Movement. All these elements have been included and used to create a sense of juxtaposition "The Oil American Dream," talks about the oil industry and how oil pollution in the ocean has affected sea life as well as the American dream and its hypocrisy. The hypocrisy of how we complain about global warming, yet continue to use fossil fuels. How we fight for the rights of people but continue to pollute oceans and overfish seas. How America believes in the American dream yet has become the land of money over happiness/health
The reason I decided to make a piece about the oil industry and its effect on sea life is that I feel that this is something, like many sustainability efforts, that is overlooked by the general public. There are trends when people care about it for a short period of time and then it goes ignored again. I also feel that we and under the impression that the things we are being warned about, floods, warming of the planet, air pollution, etc, are just warnings. But the last year has really shown that these things are truly happening. It is not only affecting us but also the sea life. Our actions, and lack of reactions, are melting ice caps that are affecting polar bears and penguins. The increase in plastic and dumping has birds and small animals choking, trapped, and ill from ingestion.
The oil industry is one of the biggest factors in the pollution of oceans. Due to supply and demand that has only exponentially increased since the 1960s, oil spills in the ocean have increased which has led to the reduction in sea life population due to not being able to return to mate, drowning in the oil, etc. We are adding more and more things into the world of animals and specifically sealife’s world that makes it more and more unliveable. What would it be like if they had done that to us? I want to make an installation that reflects that and forces people to see the effects our actions have on Sealife and our world as a whole. By creating this doomsday feel in this installation we can see how these animals are feeling, and what is ahead for us
