Naja Bertolt Jenson

Art On Plastic

Explore original and curated artworks addressing the hard truth and posing the question: why is the plastics crisis so urgent, and how can we take positive action to solve it?

The facts about plastic pollution are as shocking as they are heartbreaking.

Microplastics are being detected in utero. By 2050, there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish. And a recent study found each of us consumes as much as a credit card’s worth of plastic every week. Yet there is still time to change the ending of the plastic story.

This digital exhibit features pieces by five artists who have interpreted the plastics crisis in their own unique way, from textiles and trashion, to illustration and installation art. The artists also give their take on how people can help.

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Erik Speer

35-42° N, 135-155° W

Silicone, cotton rope, leather scraps from a shoelace factory, and recycled and headstock yarns of wool, cotton, linen, silk, rayon, and alpaca, 34" x 38"

Fiber artist Erik Speer knitted and crocheted different elements together to emulate a coral reef. He then attached them to a macramé base to create a layered effect. Speer was inspired by how plastic pollution is often seen as a floating garbage patch, but in fact seeps into literally every part of the ocean. “After some debate,” he says, “I decided to free-pour silicone on top of the piece and let it fall in a natural cascade.”

Erik Speer

I want people to picture a coral reef that took thousands of years to create suddenly becoming blanketed and ruined by plastic pollution—that every environment and organism within the ocean is feeling the effects of plastics. Education is one of the most important things people can do to fight the plastics crisis. I hope when people research and fully understand the issue surrounding plastics that they will see the need to make changes within their life and also demand policy changes.

Erik Speer

Fiber Artist

Erik Speer

Niccolo Casas

What Do You See?

Digital image with the potential to be materialized via 3D printing

What Do You See? seeks to denounce the problem of plastic by playing on the famous Rorschach test, in which the Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach recorded and analyzed subjects’ perceptions of inkblots. “Whether we see a fish, a bird, a human being, or a glass of water,” says architect Niccolo Casas, “If we take a second, deeper look, it will reveal an accumulation of plastic.” Casas generated the image digitally, following fractal distribution rules. The composition consists of 30,000 different plastic bottles—a mere trifle compared with the 60 million that end up in landfills and incinerators every day.

Niccolo Casas

I’m fascinated by fractal forms that are so common in nature—in clouds, mountains, coastlines, plants, and many more. The combination of organic patterns with geometric ones is, in my view, a metaphor of the twofold human nature. In the case of ‘What Do You See?’, this tension happens between the overall organic arrangement and its parts, a myriad of trashed plastic bottles. The resulting image becomes a heartbreaking observation of the coexistence of organic and toxic substances.

Niccolo Casas

Architect

Niccolo Casas

Marina DeBris

Pandemania

Over 900 used face masks, coffee cup lids, found fabric, bandaids, and microplastic, 2m x 1.7 m

Collecting face masks on an almost daily basis was the starting point for Pandemania. “I made the skirt from a screen fabric I found on the street and painstakingly sewed each face mask on,” says artist Marina DeBris. The face masks on the neck piece were sourced from original packaging in containers that were lost overboard from the APL England in May 2021, while the base for the shirt was an actual piece of clothing DeBris found abandoned, which, she says, “unfortunately, is a regular occurrence where I live.” The mask was made from bandaids and car reflector fragments washed up on the beach.

Marina DeBris

Every day since the onset of coronavirus I have been collecting used face masks from the street and washed up on the beach. The rise in single-use coffee cups has become noticeable, as well as the amount of dogs being bred due to many people working from home. ‘Pandemania’ is a reflection of these excesses and questions how we can continue with this trajectory. People can help by lobbying governments to place bans on single-use items and demanding manufacturers take responsibility to get their products back and close the loop.

Marina DeBris

Artist

Model: Ayanthi De Silva. Photo: Sahlan Hayes.

Kerby Rosanes

Message in a Bottle

Digital image made in the Procreate app on iPad Pro. Physical piece: Giclée print on Canson Aquarelle 310 gsm museum-grade archival paper, 16" x 20".

Illustrator Kerby Rosanes created Message in a Bottle for PangeaSeed Foundation’s educational art print program, Printed Oceans, and to amplify Plastic Free July in 2021 and the negative impacts plastics are having on the ocean and marine life.

Kerby Rosanes

“The Philippines is hit with an average of 20 typhoons a year and flooding is made worse by garbage clogging floodway systems and rivers,” says Rosanes. “Living in this country and experiencing the impacts of this problem firsthand opened my eyes at an early age to be the change and lead by example.”

Concept sketch · Kerby Rosanes

This artwork is my take on where plastic pollution will take us if we don’t change our ways. At the end of it all, nature will find its way to thrive but humans will suffer all the consequences of the problems we created ourselves. I believe solving the plastics crisis should start in our everyday decisions. A simple way to help is by making plastic-free choices and creating a plastic-free lifestyle as much as possible.

Kerby Rosanes

Illustrator

Kerby Rosanes

luzinterruptus

El plástico con el que vivimos (The Plastic We Live With)

Installation of 4,000 plastic bags and transparent plastic. Created over 12 days and exhibited for 1 month at the Jelsa Art Biennal in Croatia.

For this piece, anonymous artistic group luzinterruptus filled more than 40 windows in a derelict seafront hotel to create the illusion that the building was overflowing with plastic bags. Local residents were invited to donate their disposable plastic bags to the event in exchange for fabric ones.

luzinterruptus

“The installation represents, in a graphic, understandable way, the plastic surplus infesting our environment,” says the collective. “This theme is a reflection of life, since everything we consume is practically made of plastic—either wrapped in it or transformed into minuscule particles in our food.” During the day, the piece had no indoor lighting. At night, the plastic bags glowed as the result of lights inside the building, creating a stained-glass effect that displayed the logos of the area’s most popular businesses.

We believe that at this moment the solution is no longer to raise awareness about recycling but to ban the production and consumption of plastic products. The whole focal point and the final responsibility cannot be placed only on the common citizen while the people really in charge of changing things are still in an uncompromising position with the environment, which is always put second to the wild consumer economy.

luzinterruptus

Anonymous Artistic Collective

luzinterruptus

The Artists

Niccolo Casas

Architect

Italian architect and professor Niccolo Casas is Principal and Founder at Niccolo Casas Architecture, a visiting faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design, and a Ph.D. candidate at The Bartlett, University College London. He runs a multidisciplinary practice for research and architecture that aims to combine several fields of specialisations so as to offer an innovative and unique vision of the academic discipline and profession. Casas believes that, in order to have a true impact on the redefinition of future sustainable inhabitation, architecture must reinvent itself as a new discipline focusing on the construction of collaborative environments. It is also for this reason that Casas is partnering with environmental organisation and global collaboration network, Parley for the Oceans; together they are committed to presenting a vision of how architecture can become an instigator of a circular economy, one that works in harmony with the ecosystem.

Marina DeBris

Artist

Sydney-based artist Marina DeBris began picking up trash along beaches over 20 years ago. Her mission began when she moved from Bondi Beach, Australia, to Venice Beach, CA. Trained as a graphic designer at the Rhode Island School of Design, DeBris’ interest in the intersection of art and the environment has been constant.

luzinterruptus

Anonymous Artistic Collective

luzinterruptus is an anonymous artistic collective who carries out urban interventions in public spaces. The group uses light as a raw material and dark as an artistic canvas.

Kerby Rosanes

Illustrator

Kerby Rosanes is a freelance illustrator based in Manila in the Philippines. Working with pens, ink, and markers, his detailed black-and-white illustrations have landed him projects with global brands, along with features in several exhibitions, magazines, websites, and TV shows. Rosanes has also published international best-selling art books. Best known for his whimsical, detailed pieces, Rosanes’ style has been widely inspired by patterns and textures found in nature. His love for nature drives him to travel the world and create pieces that spread awareness on various environmental issues.

Erik Speer

Fiber Artist

Erik Speer is a 33-year-old fiber artist who merged his love of the ocean with the waste that he saw in the garment industry while he was pursing a career in fashion design.

We hope you enjoyed exploring our “Art On Plastic” digital exhibit. Whatever these artworks made you feel or think, we’d love for you to send an email with any feedback to [email protected].

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Together, we can send a clear message to leaders that we need a global treaty to tackle the plastics crisis.