Cold Seeps
Scott Greene, 2010, oil on canvas on panel, 20″ x 30″, © 2010, courtesy of Catharine Clark Gallery and the artist
Scott Greene
In his richly-detailed oil paintings, Scott Greene depicts a world that has been deluged by our stuff. Greene portrays trash crossing the ocean on wayward barges, satellite dishes sprouting from the land like weeds, goods dropping from the sky and plastic bags drifting in the breeze. Working in a traditional narrative style, Greene captures humanity’s lust for consumption and our inattention to containment. He activates these disturbing visions with objects and creatures that are falling and structures that are sprawling. These images portend a loss of control over our waste stream, but also suggest that all is not lost. Greene leaves us with glimpses of the natural world, like fragments of an old master painting peeking through a newer one that has been painted on top of it. He holds up a mirror to our society, inviting us to see that we have let ourselves go, but offering hope that we can turn things around. Will we accept the challenge and restore these scenes to their natural state of beauty? Or will we continue to view nature as a repository for our things and our rubbish?
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Mobro: High Seas Drifter
Scott Greene, 2015, oil on canvas on panel, 50″ x 64″, © 2015, courtesy of Catharine Clark Gallery and the artist
This work depicts the colorful story of the Mobro 4000, a barge that carried over 3,000 tons of garbage on a 6,000-mile journey that ended where it began. The barge set out in 1987, filled with garbage from New York that was headed for a landfill in North Carolina. The barge caused an uproar and was turned away by North Carolina, Louisiana and other destinations, traveling all the way to Belize before returning to New York, where its infamous cargo was incinerated. This incident raised awareness about our growing waste problem and propelled the recycling effort throughout the United States. Learn more about this amazing story in this video from The New York Times and in this article.
The bison is an iconic symbol of the North American prairie. A population of bison numbering over 20 million once roamed the continent, but was decimated by hunting and loss of habitat. Learn more about the disturbing history that contributed to their decimation in thisarticle. The species was brought back from the brink of extinction by conservation efforts that established multiple protected herds. The current focus of conservation efforts is the reintroduction of bison to areas where they once lived. Learn more about bison in thisbison fact sheet.
Babel-gone
Scott Greene, 2012, oil on canvas on panel, 40″ x 60″, © 2012, courtesy of Catharine Clark Gallery and the artist
The explosion of cell phones worldwide has led to an ever-expanding network of cellphone towers. Over the last several decades, wireless providers have been creating cellphone towers that resemble “natural” features of the landscape, such as the pine tree cell tower depicted in Greene’s “Babel-gone.” See more of these surreal towers in these images by German photographer Robert Voit and South African photographer Dillon Marsh.
Plastic bags cause environmental degradation throughout the life cycle of the product. In many of our communities, we have relied upon awareness campaigns to reduce the use of plastic bags. In some places, governments have stepped in to ban the use of plastic bags. What is the proper role of governments in this context?
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Scott Greene portrays a dystopian world in which the natural landscape is inundated with trash and overrun by human consumption. If you are inspired by his work, you can take action in your own life. Select one or more pledges listed below and spread the word. You can also learn more by visiting our Pledge Center. Let’s #EndOvershoot and save our #OneEarth.