As part of the exhibition Gustav Metzger: Earth Minus Environment (25 June – 4 September 2022), Kestle Barton re- presents Metzger’s Mobbile (1970/2022) —a sculptural work that makes visible the destructive impacts of human activity on the natural world.
Mobbile consists of a modified second-hand car that collects and stores its own carbon emissions. The car’s tailpipe extends into a transparent cube fixed onto its roof. Inside this box, a living plant becomes gradually asphyxiated by the car’s fumes.
Ahead of the exhibition’s opening weekend, Mobbile will travel to various sites across Cornwall. As the artwork journeys through these ancient landscapes, amassing toxic fumes, it reminds us of the unsustainable trade-offs between ecological health and human infrastructure. Trade-offs we are told must be remedied within this decade to avert catastrophic climate change, yet these warnings are yet to materialise into significant action.
Gustav Metzger—an artist and activist in equal measure—used art as a tool for protest, but also as a source for radical inspiration and positive change. Perhaps Metzger’s most enduring message was his call to establish a widespread environmental consciousness. He also believed that the arts must mobilise to be ‘at the forefront of the struggle’, so they can operate in a way that would serve ‘primarily for the good of our world’.
Gustav Metzger: Earth Minus Environment (25 June – 4 September 2022), aims to highlight and explore Metzger’s environmental thinking. The exhibition Earth Minus Environment will open on the 25th and 26th June with a weekend of talks, workshops, and events that focus on the theme of the environment.
MORE INFO: kestlebarton.co.uk/gustav-metzger-mobbile-cornwall-tour/
Gustav Metzger: Earth Minus Environment Mobbile pre-show Cornwall tour
18th, 19th and 22nd June
Mobbile tour dates:
Saturday 18th June 2022 – The Promenade (near Jubilee Pool), Penzance in collaboration with the PZ Art Festival, Sunday 19th June 2022 – The Harbour, St Ives. Wednesday 22nd June 2022 – The Moor, Falmouth.
This exhibition is supported by the Gustav Metzger Foundation and co-curated along with Dr. Lizzie Fisher
of Northumbria University, and Lauren Keeley.
