One team of artists have created a stunning sculpture of a blue whale out of 5000lbs of recycled plastic in order to highlight the damage we are doing to our planet.
It is no secret that humanity needs to begin using less plastic.
As issues such as climate change and the damaging impact that we are having on our planet gain evermore coverage in mainstream political discourse, more and more people are becoming aware of the devastating impact that humanity is having on the planet.
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The days of people using the, “I had no idea!” excuse when it comes to issues such as climate change simply do not fly anymore.
However, that hasn’t stopped certain groups of artist from highlight the issue in ever more tactile ways.
Art is supposed to convey something otherwise indescribable about the world or human experience through a physical medium, this is perfectly embodied in the life-sized blue whale sculpture found at Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.
The piece is made out of 5000lbs of recycled plastic and is even officially the world’s largest recycled plastic sculpture according to the Guinness World Records .
The sculpture was the brainchild of Joel Dean Stockdill and Yustina Salnikova.
The astounding creation measures 25.89 m long, 8.07 m wide, and 4.2 m high, and is named “Ethyl “.
The purpose of the statue is to make people stop and think about the amount of plastic waste that is being dumped into the ocean on a daily basis, which is especially important when you consider that, “Every nine minutes 300,000 lb of plastic – the weight of a blue whale – makes its way into the ocean,” as a spokesperson of the Monterey Bay Aquarium told Guinness.
It was important to the artists that the sculpture was as scientifically accurate as possible.
Over the several month-long journey to create the whale, the team of artists building the piece collected old discarded plastic bottles, jugs, toys, and other plastics, then washed them, broke them down into small pieces, melted them, and molded them into tiles.
The tiles were then mounted on to a steel frame, which ultimately created the stunning piece as it stands.
This is not the only time that an idea such as this has been seen to fruition.
The sculpture seen above was made out of five tons of plastic waste which was pulled out of the Pacific Ocean by Brooklyn-based architecture and design firm STUDIOKCA.
The astounding piece was on display in Bruges and also hoped to highlight the importance for every individual to embrace a more sustainable lifestyle.
Hopefully, this piece will get more and more people to take action.
There is still so much work that needs to be done to help reduce the number of plastics that we each use on a daily basis, and hopefully, these pieces will help inspire a few people to make the change.
However, as important as it is for individuals to reduce their plastic usage, it is also paramount for governments to implement legislation that reduces the amount of plastic usage in a widespread capacity as well as limit the number of plastics being tipped into the oceans.
h/t: Good
