API 21930378 Slaughter, TX 2012

Editor: Here we have Mishka Henner’s photograph, *API 21930378 Slaughter, TX* from 2012. It’s a bird's-eye view of what looks like an oil well in a desolate landscape. The image is stark and makes me feel uneasy. What do you see in this piece? Curator: What strikes me is the lone pump. It reminds me of an ancient idol, perhaps Baal, drawing forth hidden power, promising sustenance while also leaving the earth barren. Notice how the fields seem bisected, neatly ordered above, but scarred and depleted below. Does this division resonate with you? Editor: Definitely, it’s hard to miss. The top feels controlled, agricultural, but the bottom seems ravaged. Like two different worlds. It almost feels symbolic. Curator: Precisely. The single oil pump takes on the presence of a dark omen set between two distinct realms, representing an almost sacrificial altar to progress. It makes you think of cause and consequence, doesn't it? It makes you ponder at what cost? Editor: Absolutely. The way it’s centered emphasizes that ominous presence, and links environmental transformation. I hadn’t thought of the iconographic aspects so directly, like the sense of sacrifice or destructive progress. It’s unsettling. Curator: Think, too, of how contemporary it is. This is not an imagined symbol, but an actual industrial site, rendered almost sacred by its isolation and impact. The camera doesn't lie, so the modern artist reveals new iconography of environmental toll on modern day. Editor: I see that more clearly now. It's less of a landscape, more of a stark symbol of our current environmental predicament, rendered in these separated colors, and it leaves an impression. Curator: A truly memorable and evocative piece, precisely due to the potent visual signs that touch on both tradition and the present moment.