drypoint on Fabriano Rosapina paper
145 x 125 mm
edition of six
This print imagines a generic scenario for the pollution caused by the petro-chemical industry. Media Bay is one of those remote places that only hits the headlines when there is an oil spill.
The background to this print is my interest in the way in which these events become a battleground for conflicting media viewpoints. On one side, environmentalists warn of long term harm to fragile ecosystems. These views are challenged by ship operators and oil companies who try to minimise the scale of damage caused by the extraction of natural resources from these wild places. The truth probably lies somewhere between these polarised views.
The great wilderness is a place sacred in the imagination of most people. All of us feel a sense of shame when we see it dispoiled to satisfy our need for oil. The black slick, covering sea birds and coating rocks, is the most dramatic reminder of the unseen costs of our modern dependence on fossil fuel.
