HOPI PROPHECY
by Louis Jacinto
Hopi Prophecy, 2016
Photographs, Mixed Media
16 X 50
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
April 20 – September 19, 2010
4 months
4 weeks
2 days
8000+ marine lives killed
11 human lives killed
4.9 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico
I remember seeing the news video of the oil gushing out into the sea. I remember feeling so powerless about being able to stop it. I remember thinking, “Why are we still destroying ourselves?”
I know that if all the cars on the planet were electric, we would still be needing oil in order to make the tires that the electric cars run on; the plastic that is used to make the keys I’ve used to write this posting on my blog, the . . . . . (the list is endless).
“If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster.”
This Hopi prophecy was shown at the end of the 1982 film Koyaanisqatsi. I thought of it when I began to create “Hopi Prophecy”. It comes true over and over again.
Creating “Hopi Prophecy”
In creating Hopi Prophecy, I took two vintage silver gelatin prints – self-portraits from 1978 – and altered them.
The left photograph was collaged with symbols of oil companies, including that of BP, the company responsible for the disastrous oil spill.
The right photograph was drawn on and given the nuclear symbol with an archival permanent marker.
Between the two altered photographs printed on archival paper the Hopi prophecy. The prophecy was printed in small letters so the viewer could come closer to the image and after reading, stand back and again view the two images – a disturbed human.
Hopi Prophecy
is currently in the exhibition
“Unearthing Matter”
through December 30, 2018
Matter Studio Gallery
5080 W. Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90019
Friday – Sunday
11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
By Appointment
323-917-5191
