This week I attended the Plastic Heart Exhibition that was organized on campus at University College. This exhibition showcased many art pieces made from plastic that was collected during the pandemic in Ontario, Canada. One of the many surprising things was the amount of waste they collected just from the Great Lakes. Every year, around 10,000 tons of plastic are found in LakeOntario. The Great Lakes is one of the largest reservoirs of fresh water on the planet that supports nearly 50 million people in Canada.
One of the most artistic pieces I saw at the exhibition was by Meghan Price who made striated frames out of old running shoes! It took me a while to realize that it was made from shoe scraps and I was amazed by it. It also made me contemplate that as a consumer of shoe brands, I never thought about the many tonnes of rubber and fabric that would end up in landfills at the end of the year.
The environment around this art exhibition was very impactful. There were speakers around each room and station that played voice memos of these artists talking about issues such as global warming, what happens at landfills and what we can do to make an impact. After seeing the art they made and hearing these speeches, I realized how many beautiful things can be made out of scraps.
There was art made out of Mr.clean multi-surface cleaners, a vacuum space bag, vinyl plexiglass, black ash wood and so many other things! One of the artists also made a plastic basket out of plastic bags and yarn that looked beautiful as a vase. I enjoyed my experience at this art exhibition and I was in awe of all the art pieces. It made me think about how I could attempt to make something artistic out of plastic and that's what I'm going to try during this reading week!
0 comments on “Plastic to Artistic”