OILMAN

We are not alien beings on the planet Earth. We utilise technology to provide us with the energy we require. We build structures to assist our survival in the same way a bee builds a beehive, a spider a web. All are structures that can reflect great beauty, magnificence and endeavour.

For decades the oil industry has been the focal point of attacks from many quarters. But as society has continued to demonise the industry on which it relies we have chosen to ignore our own complicity. Worse still we ignore and debase the achievements of those who do our bidding, and by implication, ourselves.

The OILMAN project examines the accomplishments of man in the pursuit of the energy we require. By exploring the oil industry’s rituals and structures we learn more about both our devotion to energy and our relationship with the one product which underpins 21st century civilisation.

The time approaches when we will no longer be able to afford to burn hydrocarbon fuel. Oil will become a luxury product destined for industries such as plastics and pharmaceuticals. And when we finally stop and reflect on the hydrocarbon age we may well remember it with fondness as the golden age of stability, prosperity and economic growth.

OILMAN Exhibition