Erik Ruin
My image focuses on water, something so crucial to human survival on this planet, and so obviously a common resource- yet something that is growingly monopolized and commodified by corporations and the state. From Michigan to Palestine, people are struggling over access to water. I feel this image speaks to the struggles to reclaim that resource, yet also more broadly symbolizes the attempts of people to access the great wealth of power that is daily withheld from them.
Erik Ruin is a Michigan-raised, Philadelphia-based printmaker, shadow-puppeteer and occasional editor of various publications, including Realizing the Impossible (w/ Josh MacPhee, AK Press, 2007). He co-founded the art/music micro-label Desperate Commodities, and is a member of the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative.
