Fault Lines

2019

94-124 years of annual average temperature for the top six oil-extracting states in the US (Texas, North Dakota, Alaska, California, New Mexico, and Oklahoma), plant fibers, plant- and insect-derived dyes, petrochemical-derived dye

In 2018 the US became the world’s largest extractor of oil and natural gas in the world. We are all fully intertwined with and dependent on this industry, even as we are increasingly aware of the violence it perpetuates. The country’s ability to claim this title relies heavily on ever more invasive, destructive, and risky forms of extraction like deep water drilling and hydraulic fracturing.

Fault Lines is comprised of woven portraits of climate data for the top six oil extracting states in America. The color palette evokes sedimented earth and Oklahoma’s landscapes, from red clay soil to prairie grass. Parts of the cloth are left unwoven, emphasizing the scars and voids resulting from extraction. The panels are roughly stitched together revealing fault lines that reference breaks in the earth and a fractured social structure.

Photo credits: Philip Maisel