David Sullivan, a local ecological artist, exhibited digital animations of oil refineries at the Salon; in his “Sunset Refinery,” bright clouds of green, orange, and yellow bled into dripping tar balls and hazy dark smog. Frog calls, peeping in the background, fuse into noise of passing traffic and pumping pistons. This piece illustrates ambivalent hopes that have emerged with industrial capitalism. The bright cascade of colors in the background invokes oil industry marketing images that portray refineries as aesthetic objects of beauty. At this slowly evolving light show illuminates toxic chemical reactions, it offers an opportunity to reflect on the ambivalent properties of the pharmakon – a poison that can double as remedy, an obstacle or an opportunity. Glowing forms of life growing on the digital sculpture, Spanish moss and fleshy tumors, are monstrous figures of hope.
Another digital animation by Sullivan entitled “Fugitive Emissions”, magnified toxic molecules stutter across bleak renderings of refinery machinery. Chemical compounds morph into tumors. A dark object, perhaps a blackened lung or dying plant root, drifts in and out of focus as Sullivan brings together multiple scales and spaces. “The government doesn’t watch, the industry is self regulating”, said Sullivan when asked about the title of this piece. “Fugitive Emissions” is a technical term for leaks from refineries or other irregularities that are not expected. Ironically, the industry’s own language also implies that they are renegade criminals, elusive and on the run. Sullivan has focused on refineries in light of the lack of federal oversight. Keeping track of ephemeral toxic belches, he suggests, should not just be done with technical testing equipment. These dark images of the emissions illustrate their manifold effects.
Further Reading
Kirksey, Eben et al. (2014) “Hope In Blasted Landscapes” in The Multispecies Salon, Durham: Duke University Press, pp. 26-27.
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