detail of a painting with a jumble of wires around an electricity pole

hubbert's peak

painting, installation, digital collage

2012

Hubbert's Peak is a project based on energy use and consumption with emphasis on the use of oil as a source of energy and as the main material in most plastics. The study began through an interest in the feed-in tariffs for renewable energy self-sufficiency. This led to a residency in Vermont in April 2012, the US's first state to enact a feed-in law.

The title is a play on 'Hubbert Peak Theory', defined on Wikipedia as 'for any given geographical area, from an individual oil-producing region to the planet as a whole, the rate of petroleum production tends to follow a bell-shaped curve. It is one of the primary theories on peak oil.'

Thinking about non-renewable energy, the work became about plastic, our ideas of plastic as a sustainable or non-sustainable medium, and what might happen to it should petroleum resources run out. I attempted to love plastic despite myself, to value the medium and not what it has done or what it represents. I hoped to see what we could lose if we lose access to it by using up crude oil in potentially less valuable activities.

This project was part-funded by funded by The Arts Council of Ireland Travel and Training Award, and works were made on residency at Vermont Studio Center, Vermont, USA.

Everything's Ephemeral, 2012, temporary acrylic and mixed media painting on wall, 380 x 210cm

video showing the painting changing over 28 days on residency

This painting installation changed as the project took place. It was created on the wall of the studio space in Vermont Studio Center. It is painted in acrylic to reflect the idea that plastic may last for a long time in our environment. It will eventually disappear from sight but still exist underneath.

Today (2023), I would say I was making oddkin with plastic.

the large painting changed daily. This is the final image, with a long petrol station, a tree and many lines visible. A plastic bag is attached near the centre

The finished version at the end of the residency before the installation was erased

the painting, more sparse, with a person standing in front for scale

Artist Ying stands with the painting, showing the scale

the painting showing objects in an early iteration

An early version, with smoke plumes and a petrol station

floating pipes and linear buildings are added

After the first major erasure

many shapes are present, and a large golden waterfall is in the top left

Images layered and were drawn from different sources, from the history of cars to the materials used in production

more layering and collage as the image becomes busier

A near-final version

yellow painting with letters painted in grey: poly ethy lene onme

polyethyleneonme, 2012, Acrylic on paper, 74 x 74cm

Plastic-based paints as image-makers

painting of electricity pole with many wires (in black) and the pole in negative (white)

linear, 2012, Acrylic on paper, 73 x 70cm

Thinking on how energy surges cause blackouts, and the delicacy of the infrastructure.

painting of a realistic looking purple plastic bag on an orange background

Poly(e)th(yl)ene, 2012, Acrylic on paper, 62 x 41cm (longest edge)

Three paintings on acrylic sheet standing up in timber holders, with brightly coloured images including representations of power infrastructure

Steady Current, The Feed In and Took A Drive To The Sprawl 2012, Acrylic on Plexiglass, 30 x 28 x .5cm

Following earlier works in this series that used other media (paper, wall), this work and other that followed use plastic as the only medium. This piece deals with inflections in energy production and the idea that nothing is guaranteed in our systems of energy.

The two-sided works deal with the chaos that drives energy production and the role of crude oil in this process and a quiet reflection on what we may see of energy in an everyday context.

It considers layers of visibility and invisibility in the production of energy and plastics.

The pieces exhibited at Vermont Studio Center, and later at Roe Valley Arts, Limavady, Northern Ireland and St. Luke's Crypt, Cork, Ireland, as part of the touring exhibition Over Nature curated by Valeria Ceregini (2019-20).

A detail of the three sculptural paintings together

The three pieces exhibited at Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre, Limavady, Co. Derry

one side of a two-sided painting, whowing power lines tangled around a pole

The artwork Steady Current

the other side of the same painting, with a power station visible

The reverse side of Steady Current

first side of another two-sided painting, with images of cows and linear shapes collaged together

The Feed-In on one side

the second side is starker, just an electricity pylon on a yellow background

The Feed-In other side

first side, chaotic, some electricity infrastrucutre visible

The work Took a Drive to the Sprawl was the first of the three created

Took a Drive to the Sprawl other side

digital collage, a dark petrol station over an ocean, with windmills in the background. the faded word 'hubberts' is almost visible

Out By Hubbert's Peak, 2012, Digital print, 20 x 15cm

Exhibited at Little Green Gallery, Dublin, 2013, as part of the OFFSET Festival, 2013.

a digital collage. a petrol station with some text in reverse on the left-hand side

Running on Empty, 2012, Digital print, 25 x 16.5cm

Exhibited at Little Green Gallery, Dublin, 2013, as part of the OFFSET Festival, 2013.

influences

things I read or saw that helped create this project

michael fried art and objecthood (1998) book
amanda little power trip: from oil wells to solar cells (2009) book
thomas more utopia (1512) book [LIT]

collaborators

colleagues who worked on this project with me

ying, who joined me on some painting exploits
valeria and the over nature group of artists, on future exhibitions

financial support

people or organisations who helped fund the work

arts council of ireland for supporting travel to the nes artist residency
Vermont Studio Center, Vermont, USA, who also granted a fellowship for me to attend.