The predominant environmental philosophy that the Beehive Collective adheres to is environmental justice. They are a grass roots activist organization staunchly opposed to corporate exploitation of resources located amongst smaller and less affluent regions. Their primary tool to accomplish this end are symbolic and meaningful graphics and animations designed to illustrate and teach people about the many societal structures and institutions contributing to this injustice. These issue are complex and occur in a much broader context than the little rural communities affected by these interactions. It is through this educational effort they hope to spread awareness of these problems in hopes to become an agent of change from the grass roots up. This organization seeks to empower those that do not possess the means and the knowledge to speak for themselves.
The particular issue at hand is mountain top removal for purposes of strip mining in remote central Appalachia by the industry of big coal. Vast corporate and political interests dictate the way that irreparable damage is done to the local ecosystem in and around these smaller communities while they really have no say in the matter. The poster the Beehive Collective created is an intricate and symbolic illustration of the overall dilemma depicted on a national scale.
The poster is designed to fold so that the image displayed on the front portrays the forest, mountains, and the animals living there. When the poster is opened up the image on the front is split down the middle by the image from the inside of the poster which depicts numerous aspects of human society in the form of a sprawling city. The capital building is at the top and as you work your way down it trickles over the different layers of society all the way to the mines and coal being extracted from the natural environment.
Inside the