'Money and God in his pocket'
Robert Slingsby at Barnard GalleryIt was American conceptual artist Barbara Kruger who in the 1980s used the phrase 'Money and God in his pocket' in a poster protesting nuclear armament. Intended to convey the paradox of upholding conflicting values, Slingsby uses it here to focus on the impact of ideological conflict on the environment and vulnerable peoples. While 'Money and God in his pocket' may be the cause of the conflict, the outcome of this conflict has resulted in planet earth entering a new era or more correctly, a new epoch. The name of this epoch is the Anthropocene.
The Anthropocene is a new term, used to define the period during which man’s activities have made significant enough impact on the earth's ecosystems to herald a new epoch. Historically these are heralded by geological changes; natural disasters such as meteorites, volcanoes and earth quakes. While scientists agree that we are in a new epoch, the question of when it began is still being deliberated. In this context, Slingsby sees his new work as a form of activism; a calling to others to open their eyes, to treasure the local natural environment, and take action to prevent further obliteration: ’We lose the very essence of what makes us African, when we diminish the diversity of our natural abundance. When we lose the rhino we lose something which is so deeply engrained into our psyche, a mooring post which defines our 'African-ness'.
Through his current series of drawings he bears witness to man’s persistent and ruthless exploitation of the planet, showing the consequences of mans greed, often in the form of diminishing habitats. In particular his work considers the impact on the Richtersveld and its people, an area with which he has had a longstanding relationship.
24 October - 28 November
