"Look at the Dark and Ask..."
 | Benny Zable at Parliament of the World's Religions.
Photo by Trebbe Johnson |
A silent, commanding, even threatening presence is frequently on hand to greet (or confront) people at large environmental gatherings. He wears a long black cloak on which are painted FOSSIL FOOLS and THERE ARE NO JOBS ON A DEAD PLANET. His face is concealed behind a gas mask and he stands motionless except for his hands, which rise and fall slowly in prayer or imploring. The man behind this grim reminder of planetary reality is Benny Zable, an activist and street artist from New South Wales, Australia.
Recently he was present at the New York Climate March. Two years before he was part of the Occupy Wall Street community. Radical Joy for Hard Times founder Trebbe Johnson met him in 2009 in Melbourne, Australia at the Parliament of the World's Religions. Every morning and evening Benny stood in the plaza before the soaring glass convention center as 7,000 religious leaders from around the world arrived for sessions on "Hearing Each Other, Healing the Earth." Although most tried to look straight ahead when they passed him, he became the alarm signal that would not go away.
"I don't have to say anything to people," Benny said. "The costume questions where they're at. I put a virus in their brain on a visual level. I'm saying, 'Look at the dark and ask Where do I go from here?'"
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