DS 220 Sketch & Collage

A Plastic Population

This installation by my group and the video documentary i have created to document provides a glimpse into the overwhelming amount of plastic that pollutes our world. We see plastic everywhere, it pollutes our air, food, and especially water. As this issue continues to grow it has begun to affect humans more directly. Every week it is predicted that we consume around 5 grams of plastic. The plastic in our environment becomes our water and our water goes into us and our food. When we eat fish, drink water, use salt, and even eat things in plastic packaging we consume microplastics. With this plastic human concept, you can visualize how much of an impact plastic is making and how much we are consuming it ourselves. It accentuates how the thing we once thought was only a problem in the environment is now infiltrating our own bodies. The fleshy shades of pink, orange, and red humanize the issue further to strengthen the feeling of a “Plastic Population” within our bodies. We chose to focus on the upper body coming out of the floor to represent how we are already deep into this issue and how we are sinking further into it. In contrast the hand reaching out provides hope that we can soon change our ways and reduce our plastic usage. In the next 25 years, there will be more plastic in our waterways than fish. Addressing this issue with urgency can prevent the “Plastic Population” that is continuing to emerge.