This mural’s title comes from the philosopher Paracelsus (d.o.b. 1493), who, in his book Philosophy by Fire, described the universe as an organism in which natural things harmonize and sympathize between themselves. His worldview represented a creative perspective of old organic knowledge, which was later forced underground by industrial capitalist thinking. Cuevas’ mural links the ecological crisis with collective actions that oppose the objectification of nature. She researched wildfires and their ecology in California and then contrasted them with the fire management practices of native populations. A key element in this research was the official Smokey the Bear campaign, which is tied to how total fire suppression has often been counterproductive to wildfire prevention.
Installation view: Soft Power, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, 2019. Photo: Glen Cheriton. Courtesy of the artist and kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York; and SFMOMA.