It's been an overwhelming few months in the pipeline world that we're being dragged into here in northwestern BC. Frankly, it wasn't so much the JRP's recommendation that Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline be granted permission to proceed (with over 200 conditions) that overwhelmed me, but rather the plate of spaghetti that constitutes the "plans" for LNG pipelines revealed by a myriad of applications.
It's been our provincial governments touting of LNG as clean energy, even though it is a fossil fuel that has an enormous carbon footprint.
Most particularly it's the knowledge that LNG pipelines = fracking and all that entails: fracking both in ever increasing amounts in the beleaguered northeast, and inevitably (well, not really, I refuse to accept that) into this part of the country.
It's times like this you wonder: what is the point of writing poems, stories, and songs, of creating images and performing acts of wonder, love and encouragement? We're toast, we're hooped, we're fracked.
But then I remembered Peter von Tiesenhausen and cheered right up. He's a visual artist based in northern Alberta whose work challenges the way in which the fossil fuel industry wreaks havoc on our idea of home: In a review of his work in Canadian Art, Robin Laurence writes:
The petroleum industry, of course, casts a long shadow across the region. One of von Tiesenhausen’s legal strategies for resisting the industry’s incursions involved making a claim of copyright to the land on which he has installed a number of his environmental sculptures. It’s the land he grew up on, the land that used to belong to his parents, the land on which he and his family live and work.
Laurence goes on to discuss the way von Tiesenhausen creates alternative ways of seeing home:
As Peter von Tiesenhausen tours me through “Elevations,” his solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, it is difficult to gauge whether he is more invested in the work on view here or in the new Demmitt Community Centre, an hour’s drive away. The internationally acclaimed environmental artist and activist talks about each—the art that symbolizes a spiritual journey, and the community centre that he has been instrumental in creating—with equal pride, passion, humour and angst. His conversation reveals how his art practice affected the way the community centre was conceived, and vice versa. Some of the images and materials in his mixed-media show, which functions as a mid-life meditation on creative aspiration and the making of meaning, are directly connected to the realization of the building.
Community = the land itself and the creatures that live on it, in it, with it, from it - including people.
von Tiesenhausen's work includes the evocative The Watchers/Journey and the inspirational Passages. The Watchers consist of a group of charred figures which crossed Canada from 1997-2002, moving from exhibition to exhibition - a spooky and powerful presence wherever they stand.
Passages charts the course of 100 tiny boats filled with earth from 100 different spots between the Bow River's source and Calgary after their release into the river in 2010.
Seeing
images of the hands holding out the tiny boats and letting them fall
into the river reminded me of Ali Howard's first leap into the Skeena
near its source in the Sacred Headwaters. Art and action bring us
together and give us courage. Thanks to all of you who keep our hearts
whole while we struggle to slow down the craziness.
The
petroleum industry, of course, casts a long shadow across the region.
One of von Tiesenhausen’s legal strategies for resisting the industry’s
incursions involved making a claim of copyright to the land on which he
has installed a number of his environmental sculptures. It’s the land he
grew up on, the land that used to belong to his parents, the land on
which he and his family live and work. - See more at:
http://www.canadianart.ca/reviews/2013/02/06/peter-von-tiesenhausen/#sthash.0mJ9YULL.dpuf
The
petroleum industry, of course, casts a long shadow across the region.
One of von Tiesenhausen’s legal strategies for resisting the industry’s
incursions involved making a claim of copyright to the land on which he
has installed a number of his environmental sculptures. It’s the land he
grew up on, the land that used to belong to his parents, the land on
which he and his family live and work. - See more at:
http://www.canadianart.ca/reviews/2013/02/06/peter-von-tiesenhausen/#sthash.0mJ9YULL.dpuf
The
petroleum industry, of course, casts a long shadow across the region.
One of von Tiesenhausen’s legal strategies for resisting the industry’s
incursions involved making a claim of copyright to the land on which he
has installed a number of his environmental sculptures. It’s the land he
grew up on, the land that used to belong to his parents, the land on
which he and his family live and work. - See more at:
http://www.canadianart.ca/reviews/2013/02/06/peter-von-tiesenhausen/#sthash.0mJ9YULL.dpuf
No comments:
Post a Comment