ROSCOE WILSON
Water Walkers, 2015
Post-consumer plastic bottle caps, paint, map pins, copper pots,
copper water pipe
Roscoe Wilson employs appropriation in his sculptural installation by using found objects that reflect the temporal and throwaway consumerist society of the modern age. Water bottle caps represent a connection to the liquids that fill the bottles. Many of the caps are symbols of the diversion and commodification of water—a public resource that private companies use to elevate their products without any concern for sustainability or social responsibility.
In his installation Water Walkers, Wilson created a floor piece laid out in a silhouette of the Great Lakes. The artificial lakes serve as a symbol of their transformation into a commodity and their current, unsustainable direction. They become another potentially depleted, discarded remnant. Surrounding the artificial lakes are copper pots. These copper pots represent the Mother Earth Water Walkers—a group of Native Americans who, since 2003, have brought awareness to the importance of our freshwater systems. The Mother Earth Water Walkers initiated walks around each Great Lake while carrying copper buckets of water to protest and bring awareness to the commodification of the waters of our Great Lakes.
As the artist states, “My work involves the dilemma of consumerism and waste in contemporary society. Consumerism is a natural attribute of the human condition. We consume to live but we do not need to live to consume. We should be more conscientious about what, why, and how much we consume and waste. We buy and sell, save, collect, and ultimately discard practically everything that is in our temporary possession. The problem originates when we buy habitually, and compounds when we waste apathetically. We live in a throwaway society that values the quick and easy over the reusable. We desire the next great invention propagating planned obsolescence instead of sustainable products. These are serious issues that are only becoming more important as the world becomes more connected and our population soars.”
Roscoe Wilson (Hamilton, Ohio) is a mixed-media conceptual artist who frequently touches on subjects of consumerism and sustainability in his work. Wilson draws inspiration from his interdisciplinary education at the University of Wisconsin where he was able to combine visual arts and biology. There he studied the history of environmentalism and was exposed to environmental pioneers such as John Muir and Aldo Leopold. He is Professor of Art at Miami University and has exhibited widely. His work is in the collections of the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Dayton Art Institute, and the Miami University Art Museum.
Acknowledgements:
Miami University-Hamilton, Office of the Dean