Paul Hayes did not provide a title for this installation, but it first appeared in San Francisco’s Museum of Crafts + Design during the summer months of 2010. Hayes transformed recycled bits of paper into a dense canopy of leaves to create a thought provoking habitat for his viewers. His installation establishes a very palpable message on our wasteful ways.
Keiko Sato’s “Metamorphosis” appeared in art museums around globe due to its weighty commentary on environmental destruction during our current age of industry and technological advancement. Near the base of these severed logs, Sato made sure to sprinkle soil, moss, mold, AND computer parts, but the most striking design element comes with Sato’s use of electrical wire to simulate the specters of the trees’ living trunks.
Cai Guo-Qiang’s 2004 installation, “Inopportune: Stage Two,” provides viewers with a violent 3D arrangement of several poached tigers. Guo-Qiang formed his lifelike creations through a combination of paper mache, plaster, fiberglass, resin, and painted hide. Though these tigers aren’t real, their twisted snarls of pain ring true.
Though Banksy’s identity still remains unknown, as do the names of his untitled pieces, this much is certain: his street art carries strong political and environmental messages. In the attached image, Banksy’s muse erases the wild beauty of our past to make way for the industrial future. Unfortunately, this work of art was painted over in the summer of 2008.
The above piece of Banksy street art can be found in Park City, Utah – the annual setting of Sundance Film Festival. Here, Banksy attempts to critique our techno-centric world, a world where our appreciation of nature is only skin deep and filtered through deceiving screens.
In this work of graffiti art, Banksy illustrates the desolate environment that we have created for the youth of today’s society and their major disconnect from the natural world.
Georgian street artist Dr.Love is know for the darkly humorous and critical context of his work. In the above image, found at Upfest in 2015, Dr.Love predicts the dim future of the little girl in Banksy’s preceding piece. Through the destruction of our world, we destroy ourselves.
NemO’s is an Italian-based street artist that focuses on grotesque depictions of the human form. “Cagacemento” highlights our appalling consumption of natural resources. NemO’s suggests that if we keep up this rapid rate of demolition, then the world will eventually starve and cease to exist.
This “I see humans but no humanity” work of graffiti art is perhaps one of Banksy’s best. It unveils our true nature as unloving, destructive creatures and raises the question of where our society will go in the upcoming years. It’s never to late to change.
A Product of Human Creation 