On May 8, 2010 I used an art project and a PowerPoint file to present at the University of Texas – Pan American’s 2nd Annual Social Justice and Peace Conference.
Both the art project and abstract were accepted.
Art Project:
"Iron Curtain"
Abstract:
"Purveyors of Environmental Justice: Edward Abbey's Monkey Wrench Gang"
The border wall, flanked by a road on both sides, is shockingly ecologically harmful. Edward Abbey’s fictional eco-saboteurs rebelling against a military-industrial complex are relevant to real life protestors against the border wall. A very small minority of people will practice eco-sabotage, because of its fatal potential, but a much larger percentage will support the cause non-criminally. Edward Abbey’s “Monkey Wrench Gang” would have actively contested the building of the border wall if the novel had taken place in this decade rather than the 1970s.
Environmentalists have made winning strides with legislation, but Congress allowed the Department of Homeland Security to waive environmental and conservation laws if they impeded the construction of the border wall. Since Big Brother changed the rules, rendering legal avenues ineffective, audiences can find cheap solace as the “monkey wrenchers” rally for environmental justice by destroying billboards, bulldozers, bridges and dams.
PowerPoint Presentation:
