During my lifetime:
1. A sudden and relatively unnoticed decline in insect populations.
Recent studies show a 75% decrease in insect populations over the last 30 years. This decline has gone largely unnoticed because no one thought to measure insect populations until anecdotal accounts of their absence began to emerge. Now, science is catching up. One such anecdote is the “windshield phenomenon,” which describes the realization that we no longer need to clean insects off our windshields as often as we used to.
2. The oil industry’s role in climate change denial
The oil industry, as part of a larger network that includes tobacco and petrochemical companies, used PR firms to deliberately mislead the public about the climate emergency. Three main forms of denial have been identified:
-That climate change isn’t real
-That humans aren’t the cause of it
-That we have plenty of time to figure it out (believing that techno-fixes and green capital are the solution)
While fossil fuel companies have largely abandoned the first two forms of denial, the third is still widespread.
This project, The Windshield Phenomenon, explores the connection between the fossil fuel industry, public perception/imagination, the decline in insect populations, and blind spots.
The following looped video was projected onto a rear view mirror (initially out of sight) which then cast the video projection on a large wall as the viewers enter the space. The projection on the wall was 5 feet wide.