Dusty Herbig

Apr 15, 2009

Topic: Arts | Tags: , ,

dusty_herbig

Dusty Herbig’s purpose over the last nine years, perhaps longer, has been to catalog the terrifying numbers that form our society. He examines the threatening statistics of overpopulation through printmaking – a process of which the basic principle is to create in multiples. With a wide range of objects and numbers, Dusty carefully designs imagery that serves to inform his viewers; bullets lesson numbers, hands and hash marks are counting tools, we can use megaphones and sign language but no one hears, we are specimens in a petri dish self-destructing.

The artist is clear that overpopulation begets violence – the more of us there are, the more violence there will be. Why? Because we encroach. On the Earth, on each other, there is only so much and yet we continue to expand and our machinery enables us to consume more. “These machines efficiently and invisibly build thousands of miles of roads per year, encouraging further consumption of fossil fuels.” states Dusty. “These machines remind us of dinosaurs, and they symbolize a way of life that is consuming itself into extinction. Then… more violence? Has humanity learned anything from its mistakes?”

His redundant use of militaristic imagery is effective, but the shock value of his work, for me, lies in his use of fingers and hands. People are used to seeing guns, bombs and grenades, but when such familiar objects, like hands, are depicted as the tools of destruction, we shy away from the work. Because we deny that our species can inflict that much damage? Add to them numbers or tally marks and it simply cannot be denied that we have a real problem with violence. On the flip side, Dusty is also a proficient printmaker who has studied art history and classic techniques. The details and proportions of his hand renderings prove his illustrative ability and he is comfortable enough with his craft to experiment by constructing sculptural installations or incorporating resin, plexiglass and other 3D objects. I think his work would be just as fascinating if he were creating gig posters for a living.

Check out his archive of work!

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