A group of Greenpeace activists and activists installed a huge unseen work by Anish Kapoor on a Shell oil rig in the North Sea. It is the first time in the world that an artwork has been created on a busy offshore gas extraction site.
The intervention, designed to protest the fossil fuel industry, featured seven experienced Greenpeace climbers who safely reached and climbed the “Skiff” platform, owned by Shell and located 45 nautical miles off the coast of Norfolk, England. The work, titled BUTCHERED and designed specifically for this action, was created by attaching a large 96-square-meter canvas to the structure.
A high-pressure hose was mounted on top of the platform, about 16 meters above sea level, through which 1,000 liters of a blood-red liquid was pumped, forming a large crimson stain on the canvas. The colored liquid, created especially for the installation, is composed of seawater, beet powder and a food coloring for ponds, which is completely non-toxic and biodegradable.
Butchered is meant to be a powerful representation of the wounds inflicted by the fossil fuel industry on humanity and the planet: an image that recalls the collective grief for what has been lost, but also stands as a cry for reparation. The action comes at the end of a year marked by extreme weather events.
Commenting on the work, Anish Kapoor said, “The carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels is invisible, but the devastation it causes on our world is before our eyes. What still remains hidden, however, are the responsibilities of oil giants like Shell in causing this destruction and profiting from people’s suffering. I wanted to create something visual, physical and visceral that reflected the carnage inflicted on our planet: a visible scream that gave voice to the disastrous cost of the climate crisis, often borne by the world’s most marginalized communities.”
“BUTCHERED is an action piece that takes place in the place where this violation begins: a gas platform in the middle of the sea. The work attempts to revive the horror, giving voice to the moral and physical destruction caused by these ruthless profiteers, and is a tribute to the heroic work done by the tireless activists who choose to dissent and disobey this destruction,” Kapoor concludes.
According to a study published in the scientific journal Nature, emissions attributable to Shell over three decades have already caused $1.42 trillion in climate damage worldwide. And despite clear warnings from scientists and energy experts, it is still planning significant expansion of its operations, with 700 new oil and gas projects already in the pipeline.
“While the fossil fuel industry reaps billions from climate destruction, people are forced to bear the brunt of the damage caused by floods, droughts and forest fires. Governments need to start calling oil giants like Shell to account and make them pay for the suffering they are causing,” said Philip Evans of Greenpeace UK.
This is not the first time Anish Kapoor has challenged the fossil fuel industry. In 2019, he had joined other artists in calling on London’s National Portrait Gallery to sever ties with oil giant BP. Kapoor also recently joined the Polluters Pay Pact, a global Greenpeace initiative supported by firefighters, political leaders, labor unions, humanitarian organizations and tens of thousands of people, to call on governments to make big polluters pay for the climate damage they are causing.
Photo by Greenpeace Italy.
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| Huge unseen work by Anish Kapoor against fossil fuel industry installed on Shell platform |
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