Tyrannical Loafers is for me, a full circle commentary piece on big corporations and how they view climate change and pollution. Some of these corporations operate as though pollution mitigation is for another day and they do what they can to get around environmental laws. Some actually engage in litigation to change those laws in their favor, while others simply dump until they’re caught. When a sitting president pushes to change laws that are supposed to protect the environment into laws that do nothing but remove protections, that’s the start of tyranny. Given the history of the world, there will always be someone with money in a position of power willing to subjugate others for personal gain. I chose the metaphor of the powerful stepping on the powerless to give the viewer a feeling of fear and powerlessness under the shoes of those that would oppress. Black pant legs and dress shoes in a static motion of stepping on the reflected face.

Tyrannical Loafers represents all those that keep the world at odds, through politics or war. With further reflection, my hope is that the viewer may realize the nature of this device and that no one should be subjected to tyranny of any kind.

Et Tu… and was designed to ask the question “Am I part of the solution or just part of the problem?” Given how much the world knows about carbon and its’ effect on climate change, are we doing enough to offset our individual and global carbon footprint? After long thought and working within the parameters of the assignment, I felt that an ornate sword piercing the Earth would make a graphic statement.

Dominant is the ornately gilded white sword; white being silent, like clouds or soft cotton, and the blade, a deadly snake that strikes to neutralize, then devour. Swords represent overt strength and have only one job; to kill. Carbon Dioxide, when in amounts too large to be absorbed quickly, causes asphyxiation and death. I chose a globe that was created in a bronze color, to help reflect the dirtiness the world has become. I chose dark, earthy colors to represent time immemorial, when the world was thought of as endless, new, and chaotic. Now, people know its dimensions, the highs and lows, its compositional make up etc. it is taken for granted and polluted.

I gave the blade tension by angling it, as if the weight of itself would shear the world in half. The blade is meant to be elegant, a visually enticing object that takes the mind away from its vicious action.

The Earth, being held up by hands from those that would consider it precious, is on a pedestal reminiscent of ancient times when concerns of global pollution and carbon dioxide was unheard of. Both sides of the blade have writing on them, one side says in Latin “Vincere Est Desperire”, translated to mean “Victory through Destruction”. This is the premise that humanity is conquering the world through innocuous means; single-use plastics, fertilization run-off, carbon emissions from automobiles, manufacturing plants, and cow farts, just to name a few. Our thoughtful ignorance has most assuredly killed us unless we change how we “see” and treat our garbage in the near future.

The other side, also in Latin, says “Et Tu…” to ask the question “Since you are also part of this, are you helping solve it?”