Planet A, 2021
Wood, recycled Styrofoam, repurposed landfill, doll house furniture, acrylic, modelling turf
Planet A, is a model house set upon a floating crag of rock. The house is similar in scale to the rock and there are some edges where the walls of the house are on the sheer edge of the rock, which adds to the feeling of complete isolation. To offset this, the house is a warm, inviting log cabin, such as you might find in a children’s book. Warm tones lighten the interior and the lines of the house are organic and soft. Live plants, modelled trees, vegetables and other vegetation surround the house and overgrowth down to the base of the rock highlight that it has been exposed to the elements for some time.
Planet A is set in a fictional time around 2080, when we are expected to reach peak human population. There has been a nuclear war which has split the earth into small yet habitable parts. I am exploring through this sculpture the possibilities for sustainable practices in a world like this. Through architecture, farming, water ecology, mining, human and animal relations and air quality among other things.
I wanted to explore ideas around environments, sustainability and the effects climate change have on our present and future potentialities. I chose to make the work because the issue of climate collapse is very pressing. The world is finite, even though most people consume as if the resources are endless. Climate change does not spell the end of life on our planet, but this path we continue down may lead to the eradication of human life on our planet. It started me thinking about what the earth would look like if we did continue as we are, with mindless consumption, pointless wars, pollution, mass extinction and climate change shaping the earth.
