JAKE FORD

Huff Galleries

The North Dakota Access Pipeline has been a volatile subject for many months as our nation seems to become increasingly divided between money and social equity. Whittington’s work, Petroleum Children, brings up many issues surrounding the state of nation’s political and environmental systems. Whittington’s title cleverly calls out our mindless dependence on oil and petroleum products (like the balloons she used to make the work) – much like how a child mindlessly depends on their elders – and how the companies who produce and refine the oil have overtaken the patriarchy that run our lives. The NDAPL will physically cross geographical, cultural and political borders due to the land on which it will be built. However, Whittington asks us to cross the border of our own comfort. Just like the deflating balloons in Whittington’s work, oil will run out. Instead of staying complacent we must become proactive in our use of new alternative energy. We cannot let money and corruption continue to displace our fellow humans and destroy our mother Earth.