Take it Further – April: the Peak Oil Planter

Peak Oil Planter

Description: what will we use our cars for when the oil runs out?

Materials: embroidery floss on white cotton

Dimensions: 6.5 by 6.5 inches

 

Thinking not doing

I have spent ages wondering what to do for this challenge and only about 3 days actually doing it. I wanted to do something related the environmental change, I was thinking along much the same lines as embellisher, but I also wanted to do something about dealing with change – adapting to the change.

No oil, no food, no hope?

This idea was a bolt out of the blue: I was thinking - what would happen to all the cars when Peak Oil hits? Essentially this is the point at which the cost of extracting the remaining oil becomes too costly to justify. The cost of oil has skyrocketed and the cost of petrol (gas) has started to hurt a lot of people’s wallets. As the costs continue to rise, and shortages of fuel occur, will cars sit abandoned? The flip side of this issue is the increasing cost of food (due to large quantities of oil used in food production), and the food shortages which now are not just affecting the ‘traditionally’ poverty stricken countries, but relatively rich countries too, even in the west people are moaning about the rising costs of food and groceries. For a really good, but frightening, analysis check out Casaubon’s Book.

Put two and two together and you get the Peak Oil Planter. Reminiscent of the old washtub my mum repurposed for flowers back in the 1970’s. I can see the rusting hulks of cars lining the city streets, with people’s vegetable allotments growing in them.

EDIT: Having just Read No Impact Mans latest post, perhaps I should have embroidered a rainwater tank on the bonnet too!

Things I didn’t think of in advance, but would have made me sound clever……

I wish I could say I thought of the following when I designed the piece, but I’m not that clever…. as I was doing the embroidery it reminded me a lot of the embroidered floral/crinoline lady embroideries of the 1930’s, during the great depression - Simple outlines, bright cheerful colours, little regard for accuracy of details or colour…..and I realised that one of the dates being postulated for peak oil/environmental disaster is 2030. Wouldn’t it be ironic (in a terribly depressing way) if our next great depression happens on the centenary of the last one…….?

Cratistic Licence

The stitches used are all pretty basic – split back stitch, stem stitch, fly stitch, couching, detached chain, buttonhole, French knot, bullion, satin stitch, bullion/detached chain combination. The vegies featured are: corn, tomatoes, capsicum, spinach, cauliflower, carrots, cucumbers, pumpkin, sunflowers and some generic flowers! No correspondence will be entered into with those that wish to argue that corn is not visible in the cob when it is growing, carrots don’t stick out of the ground that far, none of these veggies fruit at the same time! I know that…..it’s called ‘crartistic licence’ – artistic licence for the craftsperson. J

Big Mouth strikes again

The last word goes to Tom (vomiter extraordinaire – thanks for all your kind support for me…oh and him. All is forgiven Tom!) who spent the day at home with me. Jimmy has suffered Toms scathing comments regarding his imagination . I showed him the completed embroidery and asked him if he knew the vegetables – he got all but one right. I told him that was good, because if he recognised them, others would. His response: ‘yeah well I
do have a very good imagination, you know.’ A little boy who really doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.

Beach holidaying in winter…bbbrrrrrr

PS: we are going on a little family holiday to Yamba ….back soon.