Fitzgerald Rig (2009)
Fitzgerald Rig is a kinetic sculpture that replicates Canada’s oldest working oilfield in Petrolia, Ontario. Constructed entirely from etchings, this installation is activated by battery formed from the discards of it’s own production – zinc and copper etching plates. Through the process, the acid simultaneously erodes the plates, allowing it to hold a charge for just a few minutes – like almost all of our modern sources of energy, this one is essentially self destructive.
The Fitzgerald Rig’s glory days vanished over a century ago, and the slow trickle of crude it now produces is barely enough to continue it’s own motion. This sculpture functions as a memorial to this historic site, which has remained in perpetual motion, oblivious to the boom’s long-ago passing.
Fitzgerald Rig was produced with the support of Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec
Image: Fitzgerald Rig (Installation View, Skol), etching on paper, styrofoam, wood, copper, zinc, ferric chloride, motor, 30' x 40' x 4', 2009.
Photo: Guy L'Heureux
Photo: Guy L'Heureux
Photo: Guy L'Heureux
Photo: Guy L'Heureux
Photo: Guy L'Heureux
Photo: Guy L'Heureux
Photo: Guy L'Heureux
Photo: Guy L'Heureux
detail (battery): copper plates, zinc plates, plexiglas, ferric chloride, wire.
Photo: Guy L'Heureux
Photo: Guy L'Heureux