The Red Rebel Brigade and the Blood Bath: Environmental artivism and the visual impacts of metaphors

Auge, Anais Camille. The Red Rebel Brigade and the Blood Bath: Environmental artivism and the visual impacts of metaphors . In: metaphorik.de, Vol. 34, no.1, p. 1-30 (2023) https://www.metaphorik.de/

Abstract

This paper investigates the visual metaphors identified during two performances produced by the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion: the Red Rebel Brigade and the Blood Bath. These performances use BLOOD as a visual source concept at play during environmental protests.
The different conceptualisations of BLOOD and the arguments promoted during each performance shed light on the visual metaphor scenario SHARED ENVIRONMENTAL CIRCUMSTANCES AS COMMON BLOOD. I thus ask how the different uses of the scenario may affect the public while raising awareness about the climate crisis.
On the one hand, I demonstrate that the Red Rebel Brigade relies on artistic features to depict Extinction Rebellion’s vision of an ideal world. On the other hand, I establish that the Blood Bath relies on more explicit conceptualisations to make environmental damages visible to the public.