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Javier Barrios - Habitación de Oro (2014)
Colony Collapse Disorder
To glimpse the vestiges of ancient civilizations alongside the remnants of modernity and the consequences of contemporaneity has led Javier Barrios to characterize the modes of so-called “progress” as a form of self-sabotage. The means of production, the distribution of wealth, and the division of labor are only some aspects of the unbalanced landscape of life in the twentieth century. Under the shadow of the avant-garde in pursuit of preservation, the consumption patterns of our society have become unsustainable, condemning it to collapse.
For more than a decade, beekeepers around the world have witnessed the ways in which human dominion over nature has become a threat to the balance of the system. The abrupt disappearance of entire bee societies has raised suspicion among some and concern among most, due to the direct repercussions for the planet’s food supply. The dialectic of master and slave appears to have become clear, stripping away hopes of permanence and compromising practices of survival. Contemporary society is paying the consequences of its fever for liquid gold.
Colony Collapse Disorder in bees is a consequence of the ways in which the need to increase food production, together with the influence of science and technology on agricultural and livestock processes, has generated a devastating and irreversible imbalance. In Golden Room, Barrios considers these models of consumption, production, distribution, and organization in order to address the environmental repercussions generated by a civilization that appears efficient yet proves highly vulnerable.
Three panels depict cornfields through thousands of bullet casings, forming a composition similar to the honeycombs built by bees. Each casing was once a shot, a detonation whose force and violence are projected through the wear of its residue. The projectiles now become part of the representation of a key element in the food chain; their destructive potential appears within a framework of preservation. What was once violent acquires connotations related to digestion and nourishment. In their flight, worker bees do not rebel against their queen, but against the exploitation perpetuated against their species.
Both honey and corn have ceased to be merely organic products and have become cultural artifacts. More than 80% of the processed products we consume daily contain a derivative element of corn, making it the cereal with the highest production volume worldwide. However, this unfounded dependence on a single species erases diversity through monoculture, contributing to the irregular movement of consumption practices that may be described as exploitation and abuse. The civilization that once promised progress and prosperity has become the victim of its own functionality.