In September 1969 , the three created a public environmental art piece , using a non-toxic yellow dye to spell out the word " OIL " in large capital letters in the San Francisco bay . The work was created after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill , and anticipated the devastating 1971 San Francisco Bay oil spill , which occurred near the location of the art piece . The work was revisited in the 2013 exhibition ' State of Mind : New California Art Circa 1970 ' at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive , alongside works of other conceptual artists such as Ant Farm and Chris Burden
1969 Santa Barbara oil spill
1969 Santa Barbara oil spill
Alfred Young (artist)