Shapes of Destruction

Shapes of Destruction is about (re)presenting the forms being carved out of the Amazon Rainforest canopy for illegal mining, farming, and logging. This room-filling installation uses a hybrid of digital technology and craft techniques to explore the aesthetics and confront the environmental damage caused by capitalist, white supremacist culture today. Shapes made by deforestation found in GoogleEarth cartography are translated into 3D and 2D works using traditional craft and digital processes. Tufting carpets, 3D soft sculptures, photography prints on textiles and plush materials serve as a seating and hang out area for visitors and speakers of the re:publica Festival to gather, share ideas, give lectures, and be inspired. The superficial formality of these sculptural works acts in opposition to the derivation of the works, creating a tension between humans and the environment of the installation where attraction and slaughter dance.  The artistic interpretation generates a space where connections between domestic activity, socio/geo/political activity, and their contributions to the environmental crisis can be contemplated through aesthetics and re-contextualizations. Each shape incorporated in the installation will be accompanied by the appropriate coordinates the shape was sourced from, screen shots from Google Earth, and information about the (ab)use taking place on the land and people within those coordinates. Viewers are welcome to sit on, lay on, and touch the works and it can be used as a setting for lectures or anything else happening in the event. Relevant discourses include (not limited to): LGBTQIA2S+, BIPOC, feminism, digital worlds, mapping, sustainability, activism, capitalism, responsibility, caring, empathy, globalization, environmental art, and more.