The Last Barbecue is a work loosely based on iconography in depictions of The Last Supper, in critical response to industrialised animal farming - an anthropogenic activity significantly contributing to today's environmental problems. The work explores the cognitive dissonance between meat eating and meat production through an engagement with Carol Adams' theory of the "absent referent" and Dinesh Wadiwel's concept of "epistemic violence", by putting forward the societal behaviours that render opaque the sentience of our fellow animal beings so that we can continue to satiate our appetites for meat.
Countering the violence of industrialised animal farming that is explored in The Last Barbecue, Apron Songs 4 Climate is a relational artwork based on climate action from the kitchen, through what we eat and cook. Going vegan or reducing animal consumption can be regarded as a form of climate activism, and is something we can all easily partake in. The adaptation of popular song lyrics nostalgically recalls how songs have been used in historic acts of resistance or protest movements, and offers a way to galvanise collectivism in a period of anxiety, frustration and hopelessness.
