For last week’s in-class assignment I was partnered with Kimmy, Joyce, James, Mehr and Eva. We decided to create a table that “serves” food, which is made entirely like plastic. The meal and its contents would be displayed on a glass stand, identical to the one used in most restaurants in China. The symbolism behind our piece is the idea that the amount of plastic pollution is so high that marine animals mistake plastic waste such as plastic bags and food packaging for food. This results in their entanglement, endangerment and in some cases, death. I proposed the idea of the table with different meals to illustrate this issue.
The materials we had for the realization of our project were numerous plastic bags, food packaging parts, food takeout bags, straws and an abundance of bubble wrap and foil.
I was in charge of the creative aspect and created the flowers for the table out of straws and apple packaging. In addition, I created “sushi” out of styrofoam and bubblewrap. I also created “guacamole” out of yogurt packaging.
My other teammates created “salad” by shredding plastic bags and placing them in original salad packaging. Desserts were also created through styrofoam rolls that were meant to represent cake rolls.
A major observation I had in the course of this project was the immense amount of waste that each of us as citizens produces. Although the trash was only from a week and not all students brought all of their trash, the amount of waste was considerable. The fact that we used the trash to create art with meaning is one form of “use” for the trash, however it made me think about all the trash that each individual produces everyday. The amount is so massive that, even if recycled or disposed of properly, the production of trash is considerably faster than its reproduction into useful materials.
This brings attention to the importance of creating recycling facilities and the investment in better plastic trash disposal infrastructure, which while allowing for economic growth does not contribute to the pollution of the environment and its inhabitants.
Our installation titled :”You are what you eat” a.k.a. trash was set up in the school’s cafeteria. Numerous friends and acquaintances of mine informed me that they were very intrigued by its design and took multiple pictures which they proceeded to post on social media. Hopefully this will raise awareness among campus as to the amount of trash each student produces in a single week and draw attention to magnitude of today’s waste crisis.In addition, my team included the description of various facts about plastic, as well as the different types of plastic that exist. I believe that our installation was both striking in its presentation and thought-provoking. It prompted our peers to take a second look and stop to read the descriptions. It is my hope that at least half of the people that view the installation will think about the amount of plastic products they consume and take action to limit this amount.
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