Share - One barrel of light sweet crude oil from the McClintock # 1 oil well, drum dolly, 38" X 22 1/2" (+350lbs.),. Cast resin sculptures. 2020.

The biggest challenge producing this artwork was obtaining the crude oil itself. Easy I thought. There’s an oil farm in Whiting, IN. They can sell me a barrel. They said no. I called all over. No dice. Unless you want a whole tanker full! I called down to some refineries in Texas. I called an oil farm in Canada. The answer was always no. I found friends with relatives in southern IL who had derricks on their land. It went like this - “Sure! I’ll sell you a barrel you crazy artist. Just bring a barrel on down to see me”. I got a call back the next day. They explained to me how they asked the oil company and they were informed that if they took even a gallon to sell, give away or play with their lawyers would be calling.

I widened my search. My investigations led me to the Oil History Museum in Titusville, PA. After hearing my story, the guy at the museum was not surprised. The land may be yours but that oil in the ground is not. The museum has the McClintock #1 oil well (the oldest producing well in the world), and that they retained ownership of its crude. If I could get up there, he would sell the crazy artist a barrel for market price. He’d sell me a share. Just bring a barrel!

He taught me the history of crude. North American crude is quite different than what you get at the gas station. It has a green cast. It smells of wax. It doesn’t produce toxic gas. You can even drink it! Native Americans would do a shot to cure a headache. Actually, most over the counter pain remedies include Acetylsalicylic acid derived from petroleum. When I arrived for my crude my new friend from the museum poured some in a glass and took a shot. I declined. I think I paid $83.

Share puts you in the presence of Crude. Petrochemicals and their byproducts are everywhere - think plastic. Gasoline is an unnoticed part of daily life. We only notice it’s PPG. Crude has been the motivation for endless war. Its release back into the environment will bring on climate disaster. We can sell it. We will go take it by force. We cannot share.