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David Maraev
Wendy Melnick
ENG4U1
1 November 2015
The Beautiful Destruction of Albertas environment
Alberta is a province packed to its surrounding borders with breathtaking landscapes and
beautiful landmarks. It is one of Canadas most populated provinces and attracts tourists from all
over the world. Unfortunately Alberta is home to one of the largest crude oil fields in the world,
the Alberta Tar Sands. What many Canadians do not know is that the extraction of crude oil from
the Alberta Tar Sands is one of the largest industrial projects on earth and it is currently
destroying Albertas precious environment. Louis Helbig, an artist who has decided to capture
the impact of Canadas main industrial project on its surrounding environment, has done so with
aerial photographs featured in his new exhibition, titled, The Beautiful Destruction of Alberta. In
his showcase of large scale photographs, the negative side effects of extracting and refining oil
on Albertas environment are clearly shown. Louis works well in showing his audience the
magnitude of what is really going on in Alberta with his skillful camera techniques which are
displayed in his incredible photographs he shot from a small plane over the Alberta Tar sands,
and the heavily polluted lakes and rivers surrounding it. The surprising amount of physical and
chemical damage to the environment shown in his art simultaneously portray how serious the
pollution is getting and how nothing is being done to stop it or slow it down. His art conveys the
message that the problem is actually getting worse

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because the government is continuously coming up with ways to not only speed up the process of
extracting and refining the oil, but with plans to double the production of oil so they can make
more money regardless of the environmental consequences. The destructive greed of the
petroleum industry is tearing apart our nations pride and environment by altering the once
beautiful landscapes of Alberta to fulfill the selfish needs of the rich.
Louis Helbigs art can be overwhelming upon first glance because it is hard to
comprehend the true scale of his photographs when there is nothing to compare sizes with, but in
this powerful image shot over a road next to a lake in Alberta, there is a small bus driving next to
one of the heavily polluted lakes. The art is shocking when you realize the true scale of the
destruction.

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This photograph shows firsthand how bad the pollution has gotten over the past few
years. The oil in the water is indescribably ugly and haunting - which is the type of reaction
Helbigs art brings out of people. Helbig's aerial images teeter between document and
abstraction, and capture the terrible beauty of man's ability to alter the landscape at will. This
quote from the Toronto Sun is a statement that should lead people to acknowledge that our
government is destroying the environment without thinking about what can go wrong. It is scary
to think and talk about; accordingly, Louis Helbig started his art exhibition so he could
effectively show the damage being done without having to use words to describe it.
Louis Helbigs incredible ability to portray his message of greed and destruction with his
powerful images bring out important and authentic responses from people. The audience is hit
with the reality of the oil industries ruthless approach to making their money. The damage that is
getting so out of control becomes the symbol for the greed and destruction which Louis
frequently acknowledges with his art. Creating art where there is seemingly nothing but ugliness
is what makes Louis Helbigs work special; he is able to stir up controversy with images of the
land in which the oil is physically extracted and refined from and that works when the images
turn out to be so powerful and stunning in detail like the one seen here.

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Louis

Helbigs art

should be

shared and

seen by people

all over the

world. The pollution and damage to the environment in Alberta should set an example for what
can happen for audiences in other parts of the world. Although Alberta is not the only place in
the world where these types of things happen it is one of the only places where the scale of
destruction is actually shown in such detail, granted that Louis Helbig has done an incredible job
of bringing this issue to the spotlight with his incredible art. Governments all over the world are
aware that the petroleum industry greatly benefits their countries economy but the people who
are at the top of such corporations never think about the consequences because they do not
believe it will affect them in their lifetime. The price being paid to produce such large amounts of
oil is the destruction of our earth and this is something these companies just dont care about
because they want to make the most amount of money by spending the least amount of money.
Upon viewing and examining Louis Helbigs art exhibition, The Beautiful Destruction of
Alberta, I have concluded that the large scale destruction shown in his photographs effectively
portray the importance of issues such as climate change and global pollution. Louis Helbig
allows Canadians to see for themselves what their own government has done to Alberta and it is
shocking but it is real and cannot be ignored. In this case, ignorance is not bliss because if this

problem is ignored, the corporate leaders of the oil industry in Canada that have ties with our
government, will only get stronger while Canada will only become weaker as it will end up
costing the nation of its beloved and clean environment.

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Works Cited
Helbig, Louis. "Tar Oil Sands Beautiful Destruction." Tar Oil Sands Beautiful Destruction. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.
Helbig, Louis. "The Beautiful Destruction of Alberta." www.Beautifuldestruction.ca. N.p., n.d.
Web. 03 Nov. 2015.
Helbig, Louis. Highway 63 Bitumen Slick, Syncrude Mildred Lake, Aberta, Canada. N.p., n.d.
www.Beautifuldestruction.ca. Web. 03 Nov. 2015
Helbig, Louis. Open Pit Bitumen Mine, Suncor Millennium Mine, Alberta, Canada. N.p., n.d.
www.Beautifuldestruction.ca. Web. 03 Nov. 2015