As a class, we took a trip to the Two Rivers Art Gallery to see the current two exhibits. They were called “Non-returnables” and “Dismantled Worlds”. The first exhibit was from artists across B.C. and their interpretation of the relationship between humans and plastic. The second exhibit, as described as the Two Rivers art gallery, “A darkly humorous exploration of the toxic relationship between natural life and human industry”. I didn’t know what the exhibits were about before we went to the Two Rivers art gallery, but I thought it would be nice to get out of the classroom and see some new scenery. I thought the field trip would be a simple outing; we would see some art, do a craft, and head to our next class. What I did not expect however, was how the second exhibit, Dismantled Worlds, would make me feel.
The first exhibit was non-returnables, which I believe started with shelves from floor to nearly ceiling of plastic found on beaches that the artist visited. They filled glass jars with the plastic they found. Going further in, there were pieces with biodegradable plastic bottles, tapestries woven from plastic bags, and an interactive piece where you would lie down on these blue cushions and look up at the blue transparent fabric. Upon closer inspection, the thin blue fabric had pictures of plastic bags that resembled jelly fish.
The second exhibit was Dismantled worlds, which showed nature being greatly affected by human industry. The art pieces with eyes unsettled me, as if they were looking into my soul. At the back there was a piece called “Through Ash”, and it made me feel like it pierced my very core. It showed a destroyed metropolitan city, with crumbled grey buildings and wreckage everywhere you looked. In the back, a red sun seemed to either be setting or rising. In the middle of the demolished city, was a tall green plant with large leaves and spiked bulbs. Upon a closer look, I realized that the spiked bulbs had faces; eyes and mouths that seemed to look down at the destroyed city with malicious smiles.
Our very sweet tour guide Sofia took us through an exercise to really focus and think about the art we were looking at. As I stared at this frightening sculpture, my brain began to spiral. I felt scared, as if I couldn’t look away or the plant might begin to move towards me. I began to cry, feeling utterly hopeless and heartbroken as tears streamed down my cheeks. Would this be our future? Our children’s future? What can I do? I can’t do anything. We can’t change our ways, it’s already too late. Needless to say, I took a break after that exercise to calm myself down and rejoin the group.
From this experience, I came away knowing myself a little bit more. I am scared of what we as humans have done and are currently doing to the earth. I feel hopeless and overwhelmed about climate change, but I believe that was the point of the art exhibit. It’s purpose is to make people connect and deeply feel something about what is happening to our home and take action against it.
Photo Credit: Maddie Corbett, July 2024
