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30 September 2017

"Future Dust"

The ropes festooning the fences at St Katherine's Dock looked very festive, as part of Thames Festival's display of classic boats. 

But they were something else entirely - made of plastic lids, they were a sort of prelude to a collection of large bins and baskets holding plastic sorted by colour and type -

The display, Future Dust, is the work of artist Maria Arceo, who for the past year has been collecting plastic from over 40 beaches along the tidal Thames down to the Estuary.

The work responds to the sheer scale of plastic litter that is being deposited into the Thames. The installation has toured to different riverside locations across London. It finishes off at Canary Wharf today, adjacent to the Pier.

The piece invites theviewer to question their perception of the environmental impact of plastic, whilst challenging Londoners towards a more sustainable future.
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Specially lit at night (via)
The project has included a residency in the departments of geography and chemistry at King's College London.
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2 comments:

  1. patty a.2 October 2017 at 14:34

    I see all the plastic I put in my recycling bin and it is amazing how it accumulates. I just finished making a quilt out of vintage fabric feed sacks and it made me think of how the sacks for seeds, flour, and sugar were once made of cloth and that cloth was valued. The sacks could be used again for lots of things including clothing, curtains, quilts, and other household items. Plastic bags - well, what do you do with those except to reuse them for trash bags. I know that some people make totes out of pet food bags which are a heavier laminated plastic, but there are millions that are just tossed in the trash.

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  2. Margaret Cooter2 October 2017 at 15:39

    Patty, in UK you have to pay 5p for plastic bags from shops with over 250 full-time equivalent employees - all the chain supermarkets, department stores, etc. Corner shops will still give you a bag without thinking twice, or even asking if you want one.

    The upshot is that people routinely carry their own bag(s) - bought or made - and some shops give you a cloth bag, eg bookshops when you buy expensive books. The other day I bought some jolly socks from Gudrun Sjoden in Covent Garden, which to my surprise and delight were put in a jazzy cloth bag. Then on the way out of the shop I found a top to buy and that was put into a similar but larger bag. I use the "more interesting" cloth bags instead of a "proper" handbag, so I was doubly delighted.

    The 5p charge has caused an 85% drop in plastic bags used, saving 6 billion plastic bags a year. And the supermarkets etc have given the money collected to charities.

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