“Black Gold” — Ts̱ēmā

The first law of thermodynamics describes how energy is neither created nor destroyed—it only circulates. We can see this in the process of decomposition, as the energy of one being transforms, and is then distributed among other beings. Another simple law—the profit motive—underwrites the churning of the economy: all activity must yield a profit, as outputted products must outweigh the inputted costs of exploiting labourers and the environment. These two laws, each describing a lens through which we view the world, are in direct conflict.

In the exhibition “Black Gold,” Ts̱ēmā examines the circumstances of the Athabasca tar sands—a (2021), a urethane cast arm grasping a dark oceanscape printed on silk, and (2021), a translucent window vinyl occluding the street outside. Less abstract than carbon, perhaps, are the petroleum by-products of the exhibition’s namesake: oil. The plastics derived from oil are omnipresent not only within the show but everywhere beyond, too.