Paul Willem Seghers, Belgian
Will Their Children Live Under a Glass Bulb? (2), 1968
n 2020, the reach of Big Oil into day to day life has grown more pervasive than ever. As we see the intersection of Big Oil reach further and further into the structure of our society with sponsorship and monopoly, we are faced with many questions about what the future will look like for the youth if changes are not made. This piece speaks to this very concern in 1968, depicting two young boys playing on a pipe with smoke stacks billowing out of factories behind them. Their smiling faces and playful demeanor speak to their indifference and lack of concern for the environmental impacts of what they physically stand on. They are on a playground in their minds, and the title begs the question of what will happen as they age. Within the simple joy in their faces, we as the viewer are asked to consider a more sinister view of the image. The pipes and billowing smoke stacks do not concern them, but they should, and in addition, they should deeply concern the viewer. We cannot be as blissful as the children in the image are, and their joy is more discomforting than it is comforting. Label by Gwyneth McCrae