Pangean Youth

Bob Morgan, American

Pangean Youth, 2011

Often overlooked in the field of ecologically conscious art is the art that works around environmentally harmful materials by reusing the refuse and detritus which surrounds the artist. In the case of Bob Morgan’s, a sculptor based out of eastern Kentucky, sculpture Pangean Youth, literal garbage and cheap objects found strewn about the trash heaps and dollar stores of Appalachian Kentucky become the material for a sculptural depiction of Morgan’s experiences as a gay man in the mountains. The sculpture depicts a blue baby doll surrounded by trash and cheap plastic sea creatures. A toy snake emerges from the doll’s right arm hole. On the other hand, the doll carries a sword. While this piece is not explicitly ecological in its content, its very construction—in which Morgan collects discarded objects from around him and adheres them together using adhesive—does not generate any new waste and, in fact, removes waste from his environment in order to create something beautiful. Label by Maxwell Cloe

Carbon Sink

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

Description of Cerro Rico / The Silver and the Cross

Gaspar Miguel de Berrio, New Spain, 1706-1762

Harun Farocki, German, 1944-2014

Description of Cerro Rico, 1758 / The Silver and the Cross, 2010

The first photo, entitled Description of Cerro Rico and the Imperial Town of Potosí, was painted in 1758 by Gaspar Miguel de Berrío. It depicts the town of Potosí in Bolivia during the era of Spanish Colonialism, specifically showing the dangerous and exploitative silver mining and refining industry. Indigenous workers labored in dangerous conditions in the mines, which were so greatly depleted they were dug to perilous depths. The refining process involved workers wading through a mixture of chemicals that included mercury. This mercury still lingers in the atmosphere of Potosí harming residents. The other photos are stills from a video installation work by Harun Farocki in 2010. In this video Farocki juxtaposes sections of Berrío’s painting to current day images of Potosí so that the viewer sees the connections between this history and the current day landscape. He questions aspects of Berrío’s painting, which leaves out some of the horrors of the mines in order to present a bustling silver industry. Farocki is also highlighting that Spanish colonialists used the cross to sanction their actions; a narrator in the video states “The Spaniards brought the cross and took away the silver. In doing so, they almost exterminated the Indigenous population.” Label by Savannah Singleton

Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii

Randolph Rogers, American, 1825–1892

Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii, 1855

Nydia is work that brilliantly portrays the tension between man and nature. In terms of craftsmanship, the artist conquers the marble, bending and shaping the mineral to his will. The delicate drapery, the milky, dewy complexion of the figure’s skin, and her dynamic posture are a testament to the artist’s mastery over his medium. It is interesting to note here, however, that this piece, despite its singular appearance, was actually a run-of-the-mill reproduction that was churned out by one of Roger’s anonymous apprentices. The power of nature over man is apparent in the subject matter (rather than the matter itself). This statue depicts a distraught Nydia running from an implied volcanic eruption (which is hinted at by the toppled column). At last, we see nature ravaging the ecosystem of humans instead of the other way around—there are still some environmental phenomena that humans can neither control nor escape. Label by Tara Vasanth