As this is the last technical week of classes and new materials, I've become reflective on what we did cover in class and through the speaker series that will continue on once we're out of the classroom. The course description is as follows: 'How do oil and art mix? How are artists responding to the oil and energy economy?How are artists, curators, and other cultural producers representing, documenting, and archiving Alberta’s oil economy?'
This course has consistently returned to us reiterating and redefining the terms 'activist' and 'art'. The extensive discussion that related back to these words, showed both how opposite and how interrelated both concepts could be. Yes, you can have art that's activist in nature, and an artist that's an activist. But where it got tricky to define was, what qualities come to define someone as an activist? As well as, how does something come to be known as art? The course description, when read between the lines, acknowledges both of these things.
In regards to Alberta's oil economy and the art that has been produced in response to the growing industry, we have viewed photographs, video, been introduced to artists and galleries, read artist statements, etc. It is clear that the oil industry has had quite the input into what art is produced and which art is shared; this is the grey area within my own mind. Before being introduced to this discussion, which is sadly not acknowledged often if at all here in Alberta, I hadn't truly looked at just how much the energy economy has affected us on a day to day basis. The 'greenwashing' counteracts with the campaign 'Stop the Tar Sands' on such a public level, yet the general public is more eager to side with the oil companies due to their percieved positive interaction with the environment. That is the viewpoint I approached the class with. I knew that not all oil extraction methods were good for the environment, but I neglected to learn about the specific methods; such as in situ mining. It is being canvassed as being 'green' due to it's relatively small impact on the surface of the mining projects. Yet after meeting with Carmen the farmer up north on the FOLA weekend camping trip, it is becoming more and more apparent that the generally accepted mindset in Alberta is, 'take what we can get, deal with the consequences later.'
The opening of doors that this class has presented is great. My involvement with FOLA is only just beginning, and I'm very excited to see what will happen in the upcoming months, and possibly years. The speaker series allowed us to interact face to face (and also skype to skype) with many different people that had various backgrounds and differing opinions - yet the common thread shared by all was that the oil industry had touched their lives in such a way, that they're now, for the most part, advocating for change. As the Lubicon Cree in Little Buffalo see it, there's no way to stop oil and gas production and extraction on their lands. But it is their intention to see the industry become more regulated and observed with more caution for the land and people. The frustration with the class is that there's so many large and significant changes that need to be made in order for us to preserve our land to some degree, that it's simply overwhelming at times. But as I see it, it's all about the little changes. Focus on the little steps that'll gradually grow to become milestones. We may not see the full changes that we want come to fruition within our lifetimes, but we are nevertheless getting the ball rolling on the issue. After all, this is occuring in our own backyard - shouldn't we have some say on the matter?
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