Coal Watch

The future depends on what you do today.
_ Gandhi 

While at an artist residency at Crowsnest Pass in Canada’s Rocky Mountains, twelve variously-sized pieces of actual coal are gathered from Crowsnest Pass Valley, an area with a long history in coal mining, and arranged onto a plywood sheet in a clock formation. The installation intends to raise and spread awareness on climate change specifically in relation to fossil fuels — that stands for infinite material consumption. 

The work reflects on many recollections, from E. F. Schumacher’s book Small Is Beautiful, to Olafur Eliasson’s Ice Watch, to Yoko Ono’s I Love You Earth, to many of David Suzuki’s talks and writings The Legacy in specific, and of course to Al Gore’s eye opening book turned documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Coal Watch is an homage to all these great minds.

As David Suzuki said: ‘We’re in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyone’s arguing over where they’re going to sit.’ Alas, time is running out and we are not doing any better to change the course. Let us stop fighting over the seats and instead together change the trajectory. _ RZLBD