lifeguard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CAtrash collected for 20 minutes
6.1 pounds
631.5 pounds total
I know that I have bought a few of these before. Not anymore, but I have.
I had the great honor of showing my photographs alongside some of the most inventive artists raising awareness about our trash, and plastic pollution problem working today.
We were all in the Sustainable Works 3rd annual fundraiser last Thurs. night which was a lot of fun.
The first artist I would like to mention is Marina Deb Ris. She has a website called, "Washed Up." Three words appear on her homepage - "BEAUTIFUL, STRANGE, UNSETTLING," and her work is just that. In her bio it says that since she moved to LA 12 years ago she has been running on the beaches, and collecting trash. She started to help cleanup, but then began to keep the trash that interested her to create some amazing pieces of art. Check her out here.
I've definately used that size plastic container to hold my hummus or some other food.
Another artist that I got a chance to meet last week is Julie Kornblum, a fiber artist whose materials range from cut up plastic bottles, vhs tape, and plastic bags. She is, "concerned with what we throw away." Her work combines the ancient techniques of basketry and weaving with, "post-modern" materials. The results are thought provoking and stunning. Here is a link to her website.
I can remember buying a bag of these exact chips.
Last but not least is Todd Bank whose found object sculptures are amazing visual examples of all the interesting, and sometimes unsettling, junk we intend to throw away or gather around ourselves needlessly. His website states, "artwork that transforms ordinary art shows into environmental exhibitions." He is also a writer, oil painter, and installation artist. Check out all of the amazing stuff he is up to here.
And although I haven't smoked in years, I have smoked many in the past.
So after I chased a sea gull away from the Organic Tortilla Chips Bag that you saw earlier in this post, I chased another one away from flying off with this pack of smokes. It seems fitting to give you an update on my friend Danielle's "Our Daily Ocean" project of collecting cigarette butts, and other trash items, from her beach in N.C. with her husband and three kids.
Can you guess how many cigarette butts they have collected in 11 days?
.....I'll give you a minute.
Seriously, you will never guess - - -
