PURE DECEPTION

2012, Oil on Linen, 152 x 152cm

The majority of the world’s solar panels are made in China. The manufacturing process itself is enormouslywasteful, with 40% of the rare materials that have already been expensively mined and refined being discardedas they are milled to the correct density. 

The coal-produced electricity consumed per panel in this process is the enough to power one light-bulb for 20 years. A solar panel produces enough electricity to power one light-bulb for 20 years. The life span of a panel is 20 years.

Until the process is either refined or powered itself by renewable energy, the pristine air so valued by the customer is matched equally somewhere else with smog in a transference of pollution from the wealthy to the poor.