Post by Edward Burke

Revisiting Colorless & Odorless, an installation and drawing series from 2018 that explored the invisible relationship between atmospheric carbon dioxide, pollinator decline, and our dependence on the natural world. These photographs include the installation, companion drawings, and the work exhibited at Lennon & Weinberg, New York. Colorless & Odorless Installation | 2018 Some works stay with you long after they leave the studio. In 2018 I was invited to participate in "Joseph Zito – Plus 10" at Lennon & Weinberg in New York City. Rather than creating another painting, I wanted to build an installation around something we cannot see. Carbon dioxide is invisible. It has no color. It has no odor. Yet it is reshaping our climate, altering ecosystems, and quietly influencing the natural systems that sustain us. At the time, I had been reading research suggesting that rising atmospheric CO₂ can reduce the protein content of pollen, weakening an important food source for bees and becoming one factor associated with Colony Collapse Disorder. That connection between an invisible gas and the decline of one of nature's most essential pollinators became the foundation for this work. The transparent hive-like form represents what escapes our senses, while the surrounding drawings trace the relationship between industry, consumption, plastics, fossil fuels, and the fragile ecological balance on which we depend. Looking back eight years later, the questions raised by Colorless & Odorless feel even more relevant. The environmental challenges we face are often difficult to recognize because many of their causes are invisible. Their consequences, however, are impossible to ignore. Art cannot solve these problems, but it can encourage us to pause, look more closely, and begin conversations that matter. Colorless & Odorless 2018 Acrylic on Wood Installation  (Bee Box and Stand Created by Joseph Zito) 14" × 22" × 19" Companion Drawings Colorless & Odorless I — Graphite on Paper — 18" × 24" Colorless & Odorless II — Graphite on Paper — 18" × 24" https://EdwardABurke.com #EdwardABurke #ContemporaryArt #InstallationArt #EnvironmentalArt #ClimateArt #ClimateChange #Pollinators #Bees #ColonyCollapse #Sustainability #ArtWithPurpose #GraphiteDrawing #EnvironmentalAwareness