Using De Maria’s Lightning Rods, the Animals Stage a Valiant Surrender

As the title suggests, this piece envisions a scenario in which, fed up with humankind, animals have claimed an element from Walter De Maria’s Lightning Field, 1977, and repurposed it to support a surrender flag fashioned from their own feathers, hides, and fur. The flag, violently thrust into a pile of crystalline rocks fabricated from colored and mirrored acrylic, alludes to the ecological crisis we currently face, while also evoking the iconic image of Raising the Flag Over Iwo Jima, conjoining a narrative of triumph and destruction.