Communication at the Intersection of Nature and Culture

In this paper I examine a recent artistic attempt to publicly visualize a future at risk, Alexis Rockman’s mural painting Manifest Destiny. By turning to J. Robert Cox’s work on the “Locus of the Irreparable,” I contend that Manifest Destiny compels viewers to see the irreparable nature of global climate change in terms of the unique, precarious, and timely. Arguing that Rockman’s creation is a visual example of the rhetoric of the irreparable, I put Cox’s work into conversation with recent efforts to understand the nature of visual rhetoric. However, despite the attention-grabbing nature of Rockman’s work, the production of specific social judgments related to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are left wanting. The implications for public understanding of global climate change issues and future research directions for scholarship using Cox’s articulation of rhetoric of the irreparable are discussed. Twenty-five years ago, the Quarterly Journal of Speech published J. Robert Cox’s article, “The Die is Cast: Topical and Ontological Dimensions of the Locus of the Irreparable” (Cox, 1982). Since then, argumentation and rhetorical scholars concerned with environmental issues have recognized the importance of Cox’s work, referencing the article on a variety of topics ranging from theoretical considerations of environmental metaphors (Muir, 1994, p. 3) and apocalyptic rhetoric (O’Leary, 1997, p. 299) to analyses of environmental controversies related to Deer Creek Crossing (Bannon, 2006, p. 31-33) and the protection of orangutans by nongovernmental organizations (Sowards, 2006). Perhaps the most impressive testament to the importance of Cox’s effort is its inclusion in Landmark Essays on Rhetoric and the Environment (Waddell, 1998). Indeed, Cox’s article stands out as an influential work of environmental communication scholarship. However, more can be done to understand the range and limits of the rhetoric of the irreparable. To engage and expand on Cox’s notions about the locus of the irreparable, I turn to Alexis Rockman’s 2004 work, Manifest Destiny. Set 3,000 years in the future, this eight-foot high and twenty-foot long oil and acrylic painting depicts Brooklyn long after the effects of global climate change have taken their toll: the ice caps have melted, sea levels have risen, and only ruins remain of the coastal cities. By analyzing Rockman’s Manifest Destiny, I accomplish two important tasks in this paper. Arguing that Rockman’s creation is a visual example of the rhetoric of the irreparable, I put Cox’s work into conversation with recent efforts to understand the nature of visual rhetoric. I agree with John W. Delicath and Kevin M. DeLuca when they claim, “We need to find a way of theorizing how images give meaning to social problems and the role they play in contemporary public argument” (2004, p. 320). Examining Rockman and Cox’s works answers Delicath and DeLuca’s call for additional scholarship. In addition, by turning to a case study involving the environmental problem of global climate change, I illustrate the limited potential of the rhetoric of the irreparable for social action. The remainder of this paper is divided into three sections. First, I briefly summarize Cox’s articulation of the locus of the irreparable. Second, I analyze Rockman’s Manifest Destiny as a visual example of rhetoric of the irreparable. Finally, I discuss how my analysis reveals the limits of the rhetoric of the irreparable for global climate change solutions.