Oil Spill 3 / by Environmental Humanities Hub

Katherine DuBose Fuerst, American

Oil Spill 3, 2011

In this work, titled Oil Spill 3, the artist is depicting a clean-up effort of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This clean up method was setting the oil on fire to burn it out of the water. The large plumes of smoke rising from the trail of oil in the water signify the spread of our damage. From polluting the water, the decision was then to pollute the air, further widening the environmental degradation. The dense cloud drowns out the sun, invoking a feeling of despair, while literally darkening the scene. The covering of the sun signals the obscured future and grim consequences of our actions. Label by Annabelle Marcais