Oil

Light Sweet Crude, Welded Steel

This is a collaborative work with Katherine Tsui. Petroleum is an omnipresent material in our culture, however we are never exposed to it in its raw form. The work formally presents light sweet crude oil in a relatively small space. The room quickly becomes intolerable to spend time in, yet the oil provides a beautiful reflecting pond of sorts. The viewer is forced to choose between the beauty of the work and the toxicity of its environment. Hopefully, upon leaving the viewer will be more aware of the petroleum products in his or her everyday life. The association of petroleum to something so unpleasant sticks with the viewer.