Relics 2000

Curator: Oh, wow. It hits you right in the gut, doesn't it? This raw, scraped-earth landscape punctuated by these strange, almost comical spacecraft... like something dreamed up by a sci-fi obsessed medieval monk. Editor: That initial impact for me is definitely about texture. Look at how Berkey uses visible brushstrokes, impasto even, to construct that canyon. There's a clear tension between the highly rendered vehicles, particularly the intact orb, and the sheer materiality of the oil paint forming the geological structures around them. It’s all very tangible. Curator: Tangible, yes, but also…unsettling. Berkey called this "Relics" in 2000, and there's a powerful sense of looking back, even longing. That intact craft, gleaming yet somehow antiquated, hovers protectively – or maybe mournfully – over the fiery wreckage of its fallen brethren. There's a whole unspoken story baked into that scene. What do you make of those figures? Editor: For me they speak to issues around labour. They’re almost dwarfed by both the scale of the landscape and the machinery. Are they salvaging materials? Surveying damage? Berkey isn’t giving us answers here, but invites reflection on production, destruction and repurposing of materials. Is he pointing to what capitalism creates—objects of progress as monuments of destruction? The work forces the viewer to wrestle with that dialectic. Curator: Absolutely. It is dystopian. Though perhaps he felt humanity could climb up the rubble heap. A fragile hope perhaps. See how he softens the light just so, hitting the canyon walls at this precise angle? It's cinematic, promising redemption amid the grit. Editor: But where does that redemption truly reside? In the technological advancement embodied by the craft, or in the physical labour of these individuals navigating a world reshaped by industrial forces? The medium he's chosen - oil, traditionally linked with landscapes of grandeur – actually underlines the stark contrast here. A landscape scarred by production, not untouched by it. The application suggests how these themes should resonate with contemporary struggles between production, society, and nature. Curator: Well, for me, it ends with a lingering question rather than an easy resolution. Berkey asks what will be the beautiful ruin left by us and that to me feels incredibly pertinent, staring at it here, today. Editor: Right. A beautiful question posed via these gritty yet majestic landscapes – a potent reminder of material consequence.