When I heard that “Revolution” was to be our next prompt, it filled me with too many options. It seems that there is always a revolution of some kind going on somewhere in the world. Cultural revolution, political revolution, Art revolution etc. I remembered stories that my Grandmother told about being a young girl in England ( White Chapel no less). She was born in 1878 and the Industrial Revolution was well underway. Britain was the world’s leading commercial nation, controlling a global trading empire with colonies in North America and the Caribbean. The most significant environmental impact of the Industrial Revolution stems from large- scale adoption of fossil fuels, particularly coal. As factories grew and production increased exponentially, so did the demand for coal. This led to the establishment of vast coal mines, scarring the landscapes and releasing harmful pollutants into the air and water. The burning of coal in factories, homes, and steam locomotives unleashed massive amounts of smoke , soot and toxic gasses into the atmosphere, marking the beginning of widespread air pollution. My Grandmother loved to see babies and young girls wearing bright white sleepers and dresses. She remembered when the school she attended as a child changed their uniforms from white Pinofores to grey because they could never keep their uniforms white. They even had covers for their faces, not to help them breathe, but to keep their faces clean while at school!
Black linen. Appliquéd smoke stacks and pollution.
16” X 40”
Al, I too think a lot about the Industrial Revolution and its instigation of the current climate crisis. I previously lived in England and actually talked to a woman who remembered a stray flying ember from a local steel plant landing on her cheek as she walked to school. She still bore the small scar.
What an interesting point of view on this theme!