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An immersive art exhibition titled Tipping Point—created by a Kalamazoo College faculty member and developed through eight years of projects—has drawn acclaim from viewers as it approaches subjects such as climate change, fossil-fuel extraction, environmental degradation and greenhouse gas emissions.
You’re invited to hear directly from that artist, Art Professor Tom Rice, in a free lecture at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, February 6. The presentation will take place in room 2008 at Western Michigan University’s Richard Center for Visual Arts.
Rice stated that “tipping point” is a term made popular by journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell in his 2000 book, Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
“Gladwell was talking mostly about what he calls social epidemics or trends that suddenly have great success in our culture and how that happens,” Rice said. “Climate scientists, however, use the term to focus on changes to the atmosphere, oceans, carbon sinks, air temperature and ecosystems. In an ideal world, I’d want my work to be a tipping point as Gladwell describes it—one that starts a social epidemic toward real progress in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. There are other things that need to be done to slow the pace of global warming, but reducing our dependence on fossil fuels is critical.”
“Tipping Point” is currently in the Albertine Monroe Brown Gallery at Western Michigan University’s Richard Center. It features a 95-foot drawing of the mountain-top removal mining process, works addressing the complexities and absurdities of oil refining, and miniature silverpoint drawings portraying accidents related to fracking and crude oil transportation in North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields.
The collection, currently in the Albertine Monroe Brown Gallery at the Richard Center, features a 95-foot drawing of the mountain-top removal mining process, works addressing the complexities and absurdities of oil refining, and miniature silverpoint drawings portraying accidents related to fracking and crude oil transportation in North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields.
Rice says that his use of plastic made from natural gas is intended to raise questions in the viewer’s mind about the ubiquity of petroleum-based products in our culture.
“If people will be led to discuss the contradictions, then I’ve done my job,” he said. “While the effort to transition to renewable, upcycled and sustainable materials is gaining strength—even within industry—the truth is that complete divestment from petroleum-based design is going to require a growing awareness of how deeply petrochemical byproducts are embedded within capitalism. Everything from dyes and adhesives, the plastic in the products we use every day—such as our cell phones and computers—all the way to packaging and the synthetic fibers contained in our clothing and furniture are built on the foundation of petrochemica