Photo story: A Rough Neck's Broken Dream – The Athabasca Tar Sands

In 2024, students undertook the study trip “Reflecting the Oil Sands – A study trip to northern Alberta (Can)” to Fort McMurray, the centre of the Canadian oil sands industry in northern Alberta, together with Ernst Logar (lecturer, Site-Specific Art) and the Canadian artist David LaRiviere. This region is home to the world’s third-largest oil reserves in the form of tar sands. Based on research and first-hand travel experiences, the “photo story” documents and reflects on the study trip to northern Alberta in a humorous manner. The story recounts the journey, the research process, encounters with oil workers and members of local First Nations communities, the tar sands mining areas, and the final exhibition at the University of Alberta. Peanut, a fictional oil worker, plays the leading role and, in all his facets, embodies the issues surrounding the tar sands industry, guiding the reader through the travel narrative. The “Photo story” is on display in a showcase on the 1st floor of the VZA. The presentation of the “Photo story” booklet will take place on Thursday, 2 July 2026 at 11.30 am in the library (VZA, 5th floor). “A Rough Neck’s Broken Dream – The Athabasca Tar Sands” Brochure 300 x 240 mm, 60 pages, Editors: Ernst Logar and David LaRiviere, 2026 The study trip was organised by Ernst Logar (Applied, Site-Specific Art) in 2024 in collaboration with the University of Alberta (Department of Art and Design, Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies).