Making a statement, whether it be artistic or political, is a tricky thing.
In many ways, the key to a good statement is balance, finding a middle ground between polar extremes. Not too subtle but not too condescending. Loud enough to get the central message across but with enough restraint to not overpower that message.
Some statements have worked. Others have failed miserably. Last week the Penn Environmental Group attempted to make a statement. This picture perfectly sums up my assessment.
I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure this is what the PEG wanted me to think:
“Wow! Look at that pile of trash that I’ve carelessly contributed to! Half of the items in there could have been recycled! I sure waste a lot of resources! From now on, I’m going to recycle!”
But here is what I actually thought:
“Wow. Look at that pile of trash. It smells horrible, and it’s a severe health hazard. It has also ruined my day. Once I find out which Penn organization was responsible for dumping it on Locust Walk, I’m going to make fun of them in my next blog post.”
The whole spectacle reminded me of the animal rights activists who throw blood on people that wear fur coats. Doing that doesn’t make people want to stop wearing clothes made from dead animals. It just makes them want to punch the psycho in the face for ruining their new coat.
Now don’t think I’m some cold-hearted anti-environmentalist who enjoys dumping buckets of toxic waste into rivers while driving a Hummer. Protecting our environment is certainly an important issue that needs to constantly be addressed. And we need groups like the PEG to increase awareness. But there are ways to increase awareness without resorting to shock value.
“But it’s the only one to get our attention,” someone might say. Come on, with the sizable Liberal population on our campus, there are enough people here that legitimately care about our environment. The problem isn’t apathy; it’s a lack of access to the facts. Just look at that one quote from the article.
[I]n the end it won’t cause him to recycle because he doesn’t know where to put it.
Give us information and legitimate ways to improve our environment and we’ll help out. Beat us over the head with over the top publicity stunts and we’ll just ignore you.
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November 18th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Just to let you know. PEG was not responsible for the organization of the trash mountain. Although we were aware of it and supported it, it was executed by Penn facilities, and we weren’t aware that it was going to be done without signs, labels of explanations.