Upon entering the exhibit “On Earth as it is In Heaven”, I was overwhelmed with beautiful paintings littered with tires, papers, clothing, and scenes depicting strip mines and exhausted landscapes with nothing left but tree stumps. These works by Chester Arnold though beautiful, send a clear message of the overproduction, disuse, waste and greed we face today as a society.
The painting that stood out to me the most was titled “Entropic Landscape”. This work displayed a massive valley of black car tires with smoke stacks billowing in the background and a small pool of discolored water between. This painting is a scary reference to the overproduction and waste happening in the automobile industry. I think that Chester Arnolds point with this piece was to put out the idea that if we keep mass producing and wasting at this rate, there is potential for this eerie scene to become a reality, valleys of tires and filthy polluted water. Quoted from a description of another of Arnolds works, “there is only so much the earth can withstand”.
Chester Arnold was born in Germany and later came to the United States, he know resides in Sonoma, California and continues to produce his amazing artworks.
Research further - automobiles, tires, rubber, pollution. It's really interesting what you can find and how to connect that to this essay. Also, summarize your overall thoughts at the end and connect the research of pollution and waste with your thoughts.
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