Published Commission, Photography, Press Shots for Single Launch, ZOË BESTEL, 2022
(Truce and Dawn)
‘Utopia’s’ lyrics express an idyllic reverence for living harmoniously with nature and paints a compelling picture of a society and culture exemplifying this vision.
In ‘Truce’, Zoë stands alone on a small island in the centre of a wild pond in rural Scotland – a landscape largely desecrated by the industrialisation of the human enterprise. The solitude evoked is a commentary on the helplessness imposed by climate anxiety. Zoë holds the limb of a dead tree choked by white plastic that billows in the wind like a flag of surrender, or a sail to steer this immutable island. An areal view of the landscape places Zoë in the pupil of a wide-open eye, suggesting the earth is a conscious witness, and the human being a pupil with still much to learn.
Backlit by the sun, ‘Dawn’ throws Zoë into silhouette. By obscuring her features it makes it easier for us to see ourselves standing in that field – humanity’s collective shadow. But as the human form becomes simplified, that billowing white flag of surrender transforms unexpectedly. Now the levitating ghost of a leaping dolphin – an aquatic ambassador from the largest planetary biome affected by our pollution – summoned as a transparent speech bubble in some novel incantation. So many of our conversations around humanity’s impact on the planet focus on our destructive tendencies, the power of Utopia is magical, creative, collaborative and above all, optimistic about our aptitude to choose and to change for the better.
The dawn has always been a beackon of new beginnings.
