In the Name of Progress on Highway 48
In the Name of Progress on Highway 48
In the Name of Progress on Highway 48 is a drawing influenced by our city of Brownsville, TX, which was recently discovered by global investors and corporations for the purpose of exploitation of labor, land, and natural resources. Brownsville TX is one of the poorest cities in the United States and is an easy target for the wealthy and powerful to take advantage of a weak economy and a government that is easily suggestable to promises of stardom. I, as a citizen of Brownsville, understand that progress goes hand in hand with the evolution of the culture and the land we inhabit. I do not say that this is wrong or good; it is just what we do as people, and it is to distort our natural landscape to fit our needs, even if it is to strip of its beauty and replace it with concrete and steel.
Within the last ten years, beginning with Space X, Brownsville has made progressive choices on behalf of its citizens, and it has been difficult to see any encouraging outcomes. Gentrification is becoming a reality that people from Brownsville never imagined could occur in such a short time, as property taxes and appraisals on land and homes are soaring in a drastically economically challenged city.
The creation of SpaceX has brought the attention of other companies like RGLNG and other energy companies to take their share. “In the Name of Progress” is a subtle protest to this exploitation of natural resources. Nearly one thousand acres of pristine coastal land were leveled out within a few months and replaced with an industry of machines that will harvest fuel for the “betterment” of our world at no taxation for public schools and, in return, the destruction of habitat to all native animals and a steady and ongoing pollution to the air and water.
Within the drawing there are many elements at work. The strongest image is the coyotes. Unfortunately, these animals are seen as a nuisance, but in our culture, they are the apex of land animals with intelligence and a tenacity for survival. They are being used as an element of emotion. The coyotes express the concept of family that has been displaced from their home, expressing fear, grief, confusion, loss of identity, and hopelessness. The idea of a filling station serves as a dependency on fuel but also a symbol of our encroachment on uninhabited land. Filling stations offer a feeling of the civilized world with modern conveniences. In the foreground is a reminder of what is being lost with cactus and flowering tuna flowers accompanied by a moth, a reminder of the interdependency of life and, when broken, many unforeseen devastating consequences. The truck is very Texas, showcasing symbols of major players promoting the “psychological we are doing this to save the world theory” by finding alternate resources for fuels with fewer emissions. Within the background, on the horizon, towering cranes are building refineries and structures. In the middle ground are two solitary Yucca plants symbolizing an Eden. There are other juxtapositions of natural and man-made, from the use of geometric lines and organic use of shadowing to play with concepts of space and movement.
In the Name of Progress
30” x 40”
graphite on paper