description

I believe that through technology we can fix a lot of the damage we have caused by throwing out single-use plastics, but we have to change our wasteful habits first. Deciding to use plastic as a material, my intent is to treat it the same as other substances such as wood, metal, plaster; by breaking it down to its stock form before using it. Plastics are still in high demand as it is very utilitarian, yet it has a low social value. Once it’s used, having a stigma of being cheap for its original purpose, and then, in most cases thrown away diminishes its value. The goal was to see how this material can be manipulated and how it responds to different processes. Through this exploration I aim to use it to call attention to the absurdity of mankind’s wastefulness and consumption choices, as well call attention to this process of recycling which most have never seen. I hope that by using plastic and other “trash” in creative ways, this will give the viewer a chance to see that any material can be used and reused, that anything can become something else. In my Manufactured Landscape series I am using a machine called a Styrofoam densifier to melt down and reduce the Styrofoam collected locally at a 90:1 ratio. The amount I am collecting weekly is absolutely absurd, most do not see behind the scenes of most businesses and the amount of Styrofoam they throw away.