For too many people, carbon emissions destroying our atmosphere and billions of tons of pollution depriving our oceans of life is a reality that seems impossible to change. Years of corporations telling us to pay attention to our carbon footprint have distracted us from the trail of trampled life they have left behind. As I entered the Poster House museum to see their exhibit, We Tried to Warn You!, I realized I was about to see a front of the battle against humanity’s destructive behavior in a way I had never seen before. Entering the exhibit, a path is made clear, as the first piece I see sets both the mood, and the start of the timeline, for the rest of the exhibit: an unsettling, dark image with a polluted, black landscape, and a side profile of a gray man with no expression, accentuated by his circular beady eyes; besides his head are birds with those same circular and expressionless eyes, circling around the sides of his head, seemingly diving alongside him. This piece, Ecological Seminar, made by Stasys Eidrigevicius in 1989, was a poster created to advertise an ecological seminar taking place in Darlowo, Poland. Several pieces as early as 1961 appear in a similar gloomy style, and as we move through the exhibit, we appear to move through time and place. We are shown posters from all around the world within a single room, and at the center of that room, there is a wall that holds many posters and also helps to guide the viewer around the room. The exhibit’s walls are painted according to the themes of the pieces, making the posters feel like they were made to be in that room, all in the same place. The posters shown all criticized different aspects of the damage we have caused to the environment, whether it be promoting a gathering of some kind, or an image in protest of local issues to the artists in question. The fact that these discussions were had surprised me because I hadn’t known that there was a widespread trend developing around environmental issues. In fact, I assumed that the discussion on these topics was quite low. Nearing the end of the exhibit, the surface mood changes, as the images get more bright and colorful, such as a We’re In This Together ./ExxonMobil, a poster by Winston Tseng created in 2022, depicting former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson facing a child with a thumbs-up, with a background of a dead tree and the world clearly burning. Despite the color change, the messages remain gloomy, pointing out the irony in corporations and their failure to uphold Corporate Social Responsibility. The exhibit made me feel a sense of vindication, and yet, hopelessness. The consequences were not unforeseen, but nothing was done to stop it.
Out of all the pieces that I viewed, one artist caught my attention. For decades, Hans Erni, a Swiss artist and graphic designer, expressed his environmental activism in several different mediums, including posters, where he commented on environmental issues affecting Switzerland. The two pieces presented in the exhibit, Save Our Water and Save Our Air, were made nearly 20 years apart, and yet they were both striking and somewhat disturbing. The moment I saw them, they had me slow to a full stop so that I could appreciate the intricate and artistic realism in these pieces. Save Our Water, created in 1961, was made in response to the pollution and chemical spills that kept infesting the waters, and it does so in an interesting manner. Typically, I always saw this kind of pollution depicted as deadly to the environment. However, Save Our Water made me rethink the water in my own water bottle as it showed the effect it could have on us. It depicts a hand holding a glass of water, appearing similarly to a zoomed-out view of the ocean depths, but in that glass is a skull without teeth, giving it a sharp, terrifying appearance. The shading of the piece only heightens the deathly tone, making me feel like we are responsible for our own undoing. This only adds to the irony in our situation pointed out by the exhibit, as we drink the water that we pollute every single day. Save Our Air, on the other hand, attempts to warn us about something we do every single day: breathing, and the fact that the air we breathe isn’t always safe. This piece once again takes a skull, similarly drawn to the one in his previous piece, however, it is displayed over a dark background with a brown gradient towards the bottom, reminding me of a day in New York City where the air itself turned a brownish color due to wildfires in Canada. It was like the COVID-19 pandemic all over again, as people brandished masks once again, and looking at the skyline from my neighborhood of Sunset Park revealed a city covered in dust. Taking a deep breath in it would surely mess with one’s lungs, and this piece then depicts this anatomy alongside a tangled mess of fleshy tubes wrapping around shrunken lungs and connecting through the opening under the jaw bone. It’s a dark reminder that we aren’t invincible to the effects of air pollution, that underneath the surface we are fleshy machines that can decay and falter like any other machine, and if not taken care of, can fall apart quickly. But it all starts with taking care of the world around us. Much like every other piece in this exhibit, these pieces demonstrate the effects of harming our environment, but specifically point out how it affects us in a grim manner.
This exhibit was genuinely an impactful, and motivating exhibit to me. I have been concerned with our planet for a long time, but felt there was never much I could do, except join the crowd and their uproar. These pieces feel the same, they contribute to growing concern, but their cries are never fully heard. While it successfully addressed the issues at hand, it wasn’t enough. This exhibit speaks to those who have fought for the justice our planet deserves but have not been heard by those who have the power to make change. In fact, it’s been known by companies like ExxonMobil that what they were doing was dangerous, and yet they did nothing. It is exactly the reason why people should come to see this exhibit because it highlights how powerful we are to know what’s going on, but powerless to stop it as individuals. Otherwise, the artists who created these posters, seen by thousands, possibly even millions, would be known for helping to create the world depicted in pieces like The Green New Deal, a reality we have yet to see.
I have never heard of the Poster House museum, so it has been interesting to read all about it. I like your analysis of how the exhibit was curated. Analyzing my museum visit made me realize how important colors are in terms of attracting an audience. Therefore, reading your analysis about how the walls’ color match the posters’ colors was fascinating. It’s interesting to hear how the color scheme made you feel like the posters belonged on the individual wall.
I really like how you were able to take your experience from your visit and make a connection to how that is effecting our society. I love how you were able to talk about the posters and how they relate to our experiences here on Earth and that we should really care for our environment.
I really like how you were able to connect these pieces to the world today. As environmental issues still remain prevalent, it really highlights how we should continously focus on helping the Earth and fix the environment.