Chris Drury, United Kingdom
Carbon Sink, 2011
This piece is crafted from trees that fell in the Rocky Mountains after being killed by pine beetles. Due to rises in temperature, pine beetles are now able to survive the winter, allowing them to reproduce rapidly at an uncontrolled rate. Drury’s artwork draws attention to this phenomenon while also attributing global warming to rising carbon emissions from both coal and oil companies. The piece points out the role that institutions play in supporting these companies, especially since the piece itself is situated on institutional grounds as part of the University of Wyoming Art Museum sculpture program. Above, one can see pieces of coal sandwiching the dead logs. Both the coal and the logs are arranged in a spiral, whirlpool-like form, seemingly suggesting that the constant cycle of rising emissions and rising temperatures around the world will have irreversible negative effects. Label by Grace Moser