#ecotage

Graphic by Krime

The philosophy of tree spiking is to place the spikes in the trees well above the area where the fellers will operate — as many feet up the trunk as one can conveniently work. The object of the spiking in this case is to destroy the blades in the sawmill. Since in large mills the blades are either operated from a control booth some distance from the actual cutting, or are protected by a Plexiglas shield, this method is unlikely to cause anyone physical injury even should a blade shatter upon striking a spike, which is unlikely. It is true that in small, “backyard” sawmills the operator might be standing close to the blade, but we assume that anyone contemplating spiking would never consider doing it on other than large timber sales where the trees are destined for a corporate, rather than a small, family-operated mill. Locally owned and operated sawmills are seldom a major threat to wilderness. The major threats come from the big, multinational corporations whose “cut-and-run” philosophy devastates the land and leaves the local economy in shambles.

Extinction Rebellion graffiti in Melbourne

‘Earth First!’

Ongoing research has produced several non-metallic spikes, or pins, that promise to defeat the metal detector and wreak havoc inside the sawmill. The first of these is a high-fired ceramic pin made of the same type of stoneware used by potters who hand-throw (on a potter’s wheel) cups, bowls, plates, etc. Clay bodies can be stiffened and made even more durable by the addition of “grog,” a gritty, sand-like material usually made of a high-fired refractory material (ground stoneware) or simply a pure quartz sand. High temperature firing brings about chemical changes in the clay, causing the particles to bond together through vitrification. The end product is a material so hard it will easily scratch glass. In hardness, it ranks with some types of steel, although it will shatter under a heavy blow (making it unsuitable for spiking with hammers). Still, it is high enough on Mohs’ scale of hardness to cause damage to sawmill blades.

“SPIKED!” is a sculptural work that alludes to an ecofetish ravishment fantasy. It ties in elements of ecotage, consensual-non-consent and anarchist direct action. The basis for this fantasy are the ‘tree spiking’ interventions enacted by environmental activists, driving large metal spikes into trees marking them with posters warning of the danger to deter logging companies from cutting them down. If a logger still cuts a spiked tree they consent to the possibility of damaging themself or their saw. Sacred Sadism imagines an inverted power and consent scenario where the tree is no longer a passive victim of the lumberjack’s saw or activists’ spike, but has devised its own form of protection by growing menacing, animate, penetrative spikes of its own. This ravishment fantasy draws from popular vine and tentacle hentai pornography in which an unsuspecting passerby becomes ensnared in the tree’s lustful branches and vines. The tree, however, has chosen to post a sign that warns of its desires and attempts to gain consent through the vague pronouncement of agreement by proximity. This inversion of power calls into question the grey areas present in certain types of BDSM play, the concept of informed consent and  paternalistic  human intervention on natural environments and organisms.

mooserageoussleepidity remember 1980 before queen patti was a grand dame and uncle mandy was inigo montoya? me neither. i was 5.