Justin Brice Guariglia: WE ARE THE ASTEROID III (2019)
Moody Center for the Arts, West Lawn
January 25 – May 24, 2019

WE ARE THE ASTEROID III is a conceptual, text-based artwork by Brooklyn-based artist Justin Brice Guariglia (b. 1974). One of a series, the repurposed highway sign features texts by Rice Professor Timothy Morton, Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English and author of HYPEROBJECTS: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World, among other publications.

This solar-powered LED message board – like those typically found at construction sites – alerts viewers to slow down and beware of dangers ahead. Instead of road conditions, however, the board features aphorisms calling attention to ecological issues such as “TRIASSIC WEATHER AHEAD,” “WARNING: HURRICANE HUMAN” and “WE ARE THE ASTEROID.” Through poetry, metaphor, and humor, audiences are drawn into the conversation, prompting diverse discussions about the planetary crisis.