How did you preserve and photograph them?
I preserved each specimen with formaldehyde. I used a red dye, which adheres to the bone, and a blue dye, which adheres to the cartilage. I used a digestive enzyme to make each one transparent.
Did you start out as an artist or a scientist?
I’ve always done both, but I started out as an artist. As an undergrad in art school, I was always taking science lessons and trying to figure out how to weave the science into my art.
Tell us about the species in the Beacon Institute show.
It’s a small body of work, and these were the ones that were visually the most engaging. They tell different stories. For example, one is a batfish, which is a deepwater species. Half of the oil still hasn’t been removed and is sitting on the bottom of the Gulf – 1,500 to 3,000 feet down – so the deepwater species are the ones that probably will continue to be the most impacted. Also because of the use of chemical dispersants, which are not disappearing, the water was made more toxic. It will take years for this to naturally degrade. We don’t know the impact on the food chain.
Did you find any deformities in the species you collected?
There’s nothing morphological. However, in a side project with shrimp, we saw distinct variations in the fish: deformities linked to the pollution. Oil and pollutants are a continuing presence, so we should not stop being concerned about it and let BP off the hook. I’d like to keep these ideas fresh in people’s minds. The reality is, there’s still so much to research and remediate.
Do you worry that something of this magnitude could happen again?
Four years later, we haven’t done anything to ensure another accident of this caliber won’t happen again. There’s been no major change in our ability to deal with an oil spill of this scale. We’re still doing business as usual. We need to realize the Gulf is a primary protein supply for millions of people. We have to start asking ourselves, “What’s at risk?” We may have to change just to survive.
Have you done any projects related to the Hudson River?
Last year I worked with the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy, on a site that’s the city’s only beachfront. It’s not a designated Superfund site, but it’s heavily contaminated. Dangerous materials are coming up on the sand, where people play and hang out. It was designated to be a park many years ago, but it was never cleaned up.
You’ve shown your work all over the world. How is eco-art received in different countries?
The differences are regional and cultural. Over the last 20 years in the UK, there’s been a big crossover with art clients. There’s a strong commitment through education to look at how the arts and sciences work together, as a more complete way to understand the world around us. In France it’s more traditional, as it is in Italy and Spain.
But in the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries, there are all kinds of art ecology startups, which is part of a larger trend: Human beings are more conscious about environmental issues. Even ten years ago, it was hard to show my work. People would say, “It’s science, not art.” But it’s really changed. The art community is more conscious of environmental issues, and it’s starting to grow.
What environmental issue concerns you the most?
The thing I’m most passionate about is loss of biodiversity… To think we’re losing species so quickly is horrifying, like a human-induced genocide for the rest of life. We need these other organisms for our own longer-term survival.
Do you have hope for the future?
There are rays of hope: just the fact we’re having this conversation… People are getting more and more aware of the problems. We need the creativity not just of artists and scientists, but of everyone, to deal with the problems and save these amazing species.
The belief by a certain percentage of people that technology will just fix everything is false. In fact, it’s the opposite. We need the support of scientists, IT people, firefighters, schoolteachers, everyone to do this. We’re one global community of citizens figuring out every day how to stop the damage, or at least have less of an impact.
The risks weren’t as high ten years ago, and while the problems are getting more and more pressing, changes are happening. Consumer choice is the answer. All of the people theoretically influence the politicians, and stockholders are individuals. Lots of universities and small companies are divesting themselves of fossil-fuel stocks. It comes down to the individual choices each of us make – what we do with our economic resources, including what we eat, how we chose to travel and what we do with the land.
Brandon Ballengée’s Ghosts of the Gulf artist talk/reception, Saturday, December 13, 5-7 p.m., through March 8, Beacon Institute for Rivers & Estuaries, 199 Main Street, Beacon; www.bire.org.
