LOUIS PRATT
Regret, 2019
Coal, steel, resin.
We are entering an age of extinction, thanks to the burning of fossil fuels. Made from coal, Regret is an embodiment of our possible future. The figure looms large, downcast, reflecting on a world of destruction and decay of his own making. The sting of regret lies in the tragic realisation that our misfortune is the consequence of our own actions.
The age of the Anthropocene is the proposed current geological epoch in which humans are the primary cause of permanent planetary change. Some scientists believe the world has already begun this sixth mass extinction. A recent study found that human actions have destroyed 60% of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles since 1970.
Through art, we can imagine our future, and I have seen Regret as a possible future. This work serves as a meditation, to spur us into action rather than wallow in apathy.