Artist William Sweetlove (b. 1949, Belgium) creates colorful sculptures that evoke a social, political and ecological message with a high visual impact. The series of cloned animals with water bottle represents the artist's ongoing research about climate change. In an artist statement, he notes, "If climate change continues the problems will just get worse. As an artist, I try to find solutions. Soon there will be too much sea water in the world but not enough drinking water, so I put boots on my dogs and give them water bottles and backpacks to give them some support."
The artist's dog sculptures are made from plastic, resin, and polyurethane; all of these are synthetic products made from petroleum, itself a natural, organic fossil. He states, "When we crack the molecules of petroleum, we produce hydrocarbons - gasoline, diesel fuel, oils, benzene. When petroleum products are burned, they generate pollution and contribute to global warming. Ethane and propane are distilled from petroleum and are the basis for the production of plastics, polyesters, nylon - all of the products we need for everyday life. The basic problem is that these products, like fossils, are here for eternity; nothing can destroy them. Today we must recycle them and invest in the technology to do so." Therefore, William has created some small pieces like the small penguins with recycled plastic.
The colorful dogs, cats, penguins, and crocodiles in primary colors and of different shapes and sizes in Sweetlove's animal kingdom reflect a serious interest in the future of science and the environment. Each of his surreal creatures is a clone; they carry their own food supplies and other necessary items in the water bottles and backpacks that are strapped to their backs. They are all manifestations of Sweetlove's concern with the climate change that could lead to a catastrophic decline in available food and drinking water.
Through a number of variations on the same theme William Sweetlove creates friction between the artificial and the substantial, completely obliterating the boundaries between toy and work of art. His world is a world in which poodles, giraffes and penguins are rendered into artifacts which unite Dadaism, surrealism and pop art in a common post-modernistic synthesis.
As the physical medium that provides the basis for their works of art, the members use a type of plastic produced via a thermo-chemical reaction in crude oil. This reaction, known as "cracking" is also the origin of the group's name. In their manifesto, the Cracking Art Group call upon their members to spread a vision of the world suffused with elements of irony and ecological awareness. To those, Sweetlove adds the conviction that art must also be an antidote to overconsumption and overproduction. His paintings, sculptures and assemblages are his impressions of existence reproduced in materials such as polyester, animal hides and textiles.
William Sweetlove shapes his own world.