Toni & Bobbi

Liberate Tate, United Kingdom

Toni & Bobbi, 2010

Toni & Bobbi was a performance in which Mel Evans and Anna Feigenbaum entered Tate Britain and spilled oil-looking molasses on the floor and then ineffectively wiped up the mess while sporting BP ponchos. The series of still photos from a video shows the progression of events including the two girls being escorted out of the gallery. In each photo, the girls’ unapologetic air and countenance is apparent in Evans’s smile when she first spills the molasses to when she and her friend are chatting while being escorted out, looking unbothered. These film stills effectively capture the subjects’ passion in their protests as they remain unabashed while defying the social standards of a prestigious event. Label by Jordan Stofko

Steamboat Springs, Washoe, Nevada

Timothy H. O’Sullivan, American, 1840-1882

Steamboat Springs, Washoe, Nevada, 1867

After finishing his time as a photographer during the American Civil War, Timothy O’Sullivan moved on to a different kind of documentary photography. In 1867 O’Sullivan joined a group embarking on a geological exploration of the 40th Parallel where he served as the photographer of both the landscape and geology of the region and of the exploration itself. In his photo Steamboat Springs, O’Sullivan documents what he sees, including his coworkers, wagons, and tools. These human objects stand in contrast to the wide-open landscape that simultaneously isolates and envelops O’Sullivan and his crew. In this way, the landscape O’Sullivan depicts then is not simply a beautiful backdrop or an image of an unbroken American landscape but an image of the interaction between humans and the natural world. Label by Caitlin Blomo

The Exorcism of BP

Liberate Tate, United Kingdom

The Exorcism of BP, 2011

A guest performance by Reverend Billy and the Church of Earthajulah. In this photograph the Reverend is seen trying to exorcize BP (British Petroleum) out of the Tate museum. The oil that is drenching his white suit is a metaphor to show the impurity of the actions of oil companies. The artist's message behind this metaphor is to show how oil sponsorships from impure oil companies taint the purity of art culture. The purpose of using an exorcism in their performance is to depict BP as a demon that is infesting and controlling the actions of museums, such as Tate. Through this performance the artists prove the point that if oil companies sponsor art museums, their ethics of operation need to be taken into consideration. Label by Olivia Falb

Indian Miners at Potosí

Theodor de Bry, Flemish, 1528–1598

Indian Miners at Potosí, 1590

This engraving illustrates the shocking conditions at the Cerro Rico mine in Potosí that Jesuit missionary José de Acosta witnessed. In this work, we can see the perilous conditions faced by indigenous workers along with the violence mining wreaked on the natural landscape. The workers’ contorted bodies are illuminated by candlelight, demonstrating how dark it was this deep in the veins. The precarious ladder leading out of the mountain furthers this depth, showing both the violation of the mountain, which is practically a husk, and the workers’ descent into a living hell, resulting in Cerro Rico’s nickname: “the mountain that eats men.” In the background, the landscape of Potosí has been indelibly altered by the mining, particularly through contamination of waterways. The poison in the air and the mercury in the water perpetuated violence on the laborers and the landscape (both invaluable), all for shiny pieces of metal. Label by Tori Erisman