My painting, I = P x A x T is a pictorial representation of a mathematical notation that expresses the idea that human caused environmental impact (I) is the product of population (P), affluence (A) and technology (T). The equation was proposed by scientists Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren in the early 1970s to understand how these factors combine to influence resource consumption and environmental degradation.
(Impact) for example, represents the environmental impact, which can include factors like pollution, resource depletion and habitat loss.
(Population) refers to the size of the human population
(Affluence) denotes the consumption per capita of the material wealth and consumption levels of the population.
(Technology) involves the technologies used in production and consumption, which can either increase or decrease environmental impact.
By analysing these components, the equation helps to show how changes in population size, levels of consumption and the types of technology employed can combine to worsen or improve the overall human impact on the environment.
I have various themes running through the painting which refer to this equation and to climate change, e.g. the footprints in the sand represent our ecological footprint. Currently this footprint exceeds the Earths biocapacity, meaning we would need more than one Earth to meet our consumption needs. The colour tones of the piece are intense and vibrant symbolic of our warming climate and the intense weather conditions we are experiencing as a result. The figure represents us all, as in (P) for Population, the backpack represents (A) for affluence and also (T) for technology. The figure is portrayed as being on holiday and a holiday requires a bag the contents of which contain our phones our laptops and our personal luxuries.
Initially the blue symbols of the notation, the (I) for impact and the dot over the I and the equals sign were originally grouped together to form a factory symbol (The chimney as the I and the dot of the I acting as the smoke from the chimney with the equals sign as the body of the factory), representing the pollution from industrial sites. However, I found this concept was upsetting the balance of the piece so as a solution I drew inspiration from a Kandinsky painting "Composition 8" to scatter the symbols across the top half of the painting for the viewer to decipher as i =
The sand effect was made using a combination of colours lightly splattered over the canvas using thinned acrylic paints which were flicked from a toothbrush, constantly walking around this area of the painting (which was masked off from the rest of the piece) to distribute the small dot like marks evenly. I used this method to imply depth in the painting in which the footprints would imbed heavily, symbolising the weight of responsibility we should all feel as caretakers of this beautiful but fragile earth.