I have very few ‘ornaments’ but one of the few is a little furry elephant figure sent me by the World Wildlife Fund as a proportion of my monthly subscription goes to benefit the welfare of the elephant population of south-east Asia.
A written statement by Claire Morgan, an artist who I have never met, caught my eye recently in the context of a art installation she has created called ‘Elephant in the Room’. She states ‘out of sight means out of mind, and we can more or less experience the world through a device, purchasing things that have been grown, killed, or manufactured cheaply in places we will never visit, by people we will never meet, all the while signing on-line petitions for ethical treatment of humans and animals in order to absolve ourselves of any guilt.
Its a system that offers just enough value, just enough separation, and more than enough convenience to keep our concerns at the very back of our minds’.
The introductory sentence introducing Claire’s quote reads ‘Claire engages with the impact which human activity has on the earth’s life, finding new ways to remind people of the beauty and fragility of the world around us’.
A stern taskmaster, but a right one.