What now? key ring

♦ Me: Tell folks about your latest artwork. ♦ KB: It currently looks like the world is in a trap. I mean the real world. The trap comes from things like borrowing money. Now we need to keep paying back the money but there is nothing left. What now? ♦ Me: Looks like a planet stuck in the web of a spider? ♦ KB: A simple summary. ♦ Me: That spider has too many legs! And why is one of the legs curly? ♦ KB: The "legs" are currency because the abomination represents (world) governments being stupid with things like our money. ♦ Me: What's the black blob then? ♦ KB: Oil. It presents problems at all prices. Our governments know we need to address our use of it but they won't. We had a chance to do something about it but it looks like we will miss the boat on that one and condemn humankind to an unknown climate along with all the grief that this will entail. ♦ Me: And the other foolsgold coloured creature segment? ♦ KB: That is the political cowardice, putting off what we should do now until too late because it's not a vote winner, doing things we can not afford because that is popular and you can defer the true cost for maybe a another term, maybe another generation. The list is endless. ♦ Me: What world is in the web? ♦ KB: Planet Earth. ♦ Me: It's not very good, I can't recognise my country! ♦ KB: This is art not a technical drawing. ♦ Me: Oh, I see, you've got the painting upside down. ♦ KB: No, the painting is the right way up. It is the world that is upside down. ♦ Me: Most people would show the world with green land on a blue sea don't you think? ♦ KB: It shows a barren world where everything has been consumed. ♦ Me: Why put the date that you finished the painting in such a strange place? ♦ KB: I think that November 2011, give or take a bit, is the threshold beyond which it will be hard to return to what we once considered normal. ♦ Me: Grim. ♦ KB: I don't think grimness is somewhere that artistic expression is not allowed to go. ♦ Me: Is that how bad you feel? ♦ KB: I am not depressed if that's what you mean. I do find myself drawn to scrutinise these aspects of life at the moment and I am aware that doing so is not "cool". That aspect of "cool" is not cool but it doesn't matter, I just depict things in my mind. ♦ Me: More grimness then please. ♦ KB: Having children and wanting a pleasant future for them I am sometimes concerned but, looking on the bright side, all of my suspicions about what awaits them cannot be true. Can they? I am waiting for the good news but every time I look for it there's something else. What now?