As a part of the artistic research project “Reflecting Oil” at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, an anthology of the same name has now been produced and is also available as an open access e-book. Simone Gingrich (ISEC) and Johannes Schmidt (INWE) contributed to it.

The interdisciplinary project “Reflecting Oil”, led by Ernst Logar, combines art and science to examine the role of oil in today's society. It highlights the complex relationships between oil, human behavior and ecological systems showing how artistic and scientific approaches can collaborate to create transformative knowledge. The project has resulted in an anthology comprising 25 chapters in total.

In her article “What a Difference a Substance Makes”, Simone Gingrich explains the extent to which today's use of resources is dependent on oil, as well as the ecological and social problems caused by the extraction and combustion of oil in local and global contexts. To this end, she examines the photograph “Christmas Tree” by the Nigerian photographer George Osodi. Phasing out oil is necessary, but challenging. It requires cooperation and new ideas.

Johannes Schmidt collaborated with seven other authors and graphic designer Olaf Osten to develop the graphic novel “Teresa: A Fiction on a Not-So-Deep Future of Energy”, which describes a utopia without oil through the eyes of six characters, including a plastic cup, an oxygen molecule, and the Brazilian girl Teresa. The final image depicts a world in which carbon is recycled rather than extracted from the ground and released into the atmosphere. The plastic cup remains in the ground as a relic of our oil-dependent generation.

Logar, Ernst (Ed.), 2025. Reflecting Oil, Edition Angewandte, De Gruyter, Berlin. ISBN: 978-3-68924-253-4. Creative Commons BY 4.0
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783689240462 


This publication was produced as part of the artistic research project 'Reflecting Oil: Art-Based Research on Oil Transitionings (FWF-PEEK project AR547, 2019–2024).
 

More information on the project https://www.reflectingoil.info

01.07.2025