Destructive Distraction: Influencers, Kebabs and Climate Crisis
Collaborative public billboard with Mark Titchner. Glasgow, UK
Hulk Slogan
ELITE SPITTLE SPATTERS THE LENS WHILE THE WORLD BURNS. The text is short and sweet, something between a tweet and a tongue twister. Durty Beanz have written it. I can tell. (It reminds me of their batshit Instagram captions, except with less swearing). The story opens with a description of an ELITE individual or group salivating onto a lens. It makes me think of the shouty male influencers I’ve seen on TikTok stuffing burgers into their faces whilst dribbling all over themselves and yelling about smashed patties. It also makes me think of, well, myself. I indulge in this kind of food sometimes. I feed on this kind of content occasionally. Am I one of this story’s ELITE? The narrative zooms out abruptly, pivoting to a description of the world around the character(s). Apparently, it’s burning. It isn’t clear if this is meant literally or metaphorically (or both). Either way, given how the sentence spins on the word WHILE, a connective (even causal?) relationship between the behaviour of this ELITE and the world that’s burning around them is heavily implied. Hmmm.
Masking the Musk
The central area of the frame is occupied by text, rendered in block white capitals. The font isn’t anything fancy (some Helvetica variant I’d guess). It’s stark and unapologetic, reminiscent of a Ministry health warning or a supermarket own brand product. The words appear stacked, their shadows connecting to create a pyramid of letters. Behind the text is a kaleidoscopic explosion of colours, shapes and movement. The design appears painterly, warm and seductive. Yet there’s a sense of peril in the swampy thickets, a sort of nightmarish urgency. This is unmistakably the work of Mark Titchner, however it also isn’t quite like anything I’ve seen from him before. It feels more fantastical.
Cultivating Appetites
Although the work’s textual and visual elements initially appear somewhat distinct from one another, there is an abundance of semantic and syntactic interplay between them. A layer of splattered black sits just below the word SPATTER, whilst a cauldron of red and orange smoulders behind the word BURNS. And who is that positioned at the top of this pyramid of words, presiding over the fray below? Ah yes, of course, it’s (the) ELITE. The longer I look, the more that seems to percolate up through this rich and deceptively complex composition. And it’s starting to make me think and feel stuff. Uh oh.
Illegitimi non carborundum and fries please
Carbon-intensive farming. Mass deforestation. Plastic & Styrofoam pollution. Water contamination. As the project title suggests, the work seems to be speaking to the increasingly lucrative set of relationships between fast food, influencer culture and climate emergency. Perhaps it operates almost as a cautionary tale – a reminder that all the greasy blokes on YouTube guffawing to camera about their boneless bucket are distracting us from the devastating environmental impact the fast food industry is having on our planet (not to mention the unspeakable levels of animal cruelty and human exploitation the industry is also built upon). The gluttonous burger balrogs of the manosphere are not, however, the only ones being implicated by this work. It feels like we are too (and appropriately so). But there isn’t any sense that we’re being told off or judged for our complicity. Instead, it feels like we’re being reminded that our active role in this global system means that we are also the ones with the agency to bring about change. So yes, this artwork may address topics that can often feel overwhelming and depressing, but it does so with a refreshingly accessible energy. It reminds us that optimism, hope and collective action are not only possible responses to the existential threats posed by neoliberalism’s rampant (yet often insidious) sponsorship of climate catastrophe, but that they are likely to be essential in bringing about the changes we need.
Lending Library and Additional Resources
If you would like to find out a bit more about the research that has informed this artwork, please check out the titles below. You can either follow the link or borrow a physical copy FOR FREE from our lending library. We are offering this service on a trust-based system, so all you need to do is let us know which title you’d like to borrow, and we’ll get a copy in the post. Once you’re finished, you can send it back to us (for free) and borrow another. If you would prefer video resources, or have any questions or thoughts on this work, please do not hesitate to email us at: info@durtybeanz.com
Titles Available
Andreas Malm. Overshoot: How the World Surrendered to Climate Breakdown.
Alife Bown. The Playstation Dreamworld.
Gaia Vince. Nomad Century: How to Survive Climate Upheaval.
George Monbiot. Regenesis. Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet.
Grace Blakely. Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes and Backdoor Bailouts.
Holly McNish. a british national breakfast
Holly McNish. Cherry Pie.
Gwynne Mapes. Elite Authenticity: Remaking Distinction in Food Discourse.
Jason Hickel. Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save The World.
Karen Bell. Working Class Environmentalism.
Matthieu Ricard. A Plea for the Animals.
Vincent Bevins. If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and The Missing Revolution
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This project has been supported by Creative Scotland and Film City Glasgow. All photos courtesy of Matthew Barnes & JACK ARTS Scotland, part of the BUILDHOLLYWOOD family.