Plastic Curtain

Objective:

Show awareness of plastic pollution in our area and how it doesn’t disintegrate or disappear, but becomes an annoyance and an eyesore to those who are left to deal with the rubbish.

We discussed Bright Ugochukwa Eke and watch a Youtube about him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxTRS6VSMgA

Ripples and Storm i, 2011. 
Plastic water bottles, wire. 
Dimensions variable
Installation: Environment and Object: Recent African Art. 
Tang Museum, Skidmore College, New York

http://u-bright.blogspot.com/2011/02/ripples-and-storm-i-2011-environment.html

One of my students had the honor to work at the Ellen Noel Art Museum in Odessa at the Teen Artist Residence Program in the summer of 2013. She worked with the artist, Bryan Holsenbeck creating "Purified, A River in the Desert" using plastic bottles and cutting them similar to our curtain. On Holsenbeck's website, http://www.bryantholsenbeck.com, she stated, 

"For over a decade now, I have been documenting the 'stuff" of our society that we use once and throw away, Americans continue to create more garbage, per capita, than any other culture, yet we are blind to our waste. I believe this is a function of our wealth, and the vastness of our country. We have the room to hide our waste, and the money to make more."

http://www.bryantholsenbeck.com/images/Installations/LgEnviro/enviro-22.jpg

She also has a blog "The Last Straw: A reluctant Year without Disposable Plastic". documenting the full year in 2010 she lived without using a single-use plastic.

We, the students and I, collected plastic bottles laying around the school campus and out in our communities.

On the plastic bottle we created designs depicting frustration, fear, anger or secret the artists wanted to release. As the artists worked, we had discussions about the artwork. Some of the topics were hurt feelings from friends, controlling parents, fear of life after high school graduation, and general school stress. Since many of the bottle art was secret, I mentioned topics of self image, depression, and fear.

The process of cutting the bottles gave the students satisfaction, a feeling of letting go. They enjoyed the process of cutting and hearing the cackle of the plastic as they cut the bottle into a long spiral. I had a number of students come in during lunch and after school to create more bottles just to cut them up.

The bottles were mounted on a piece of wood I found discarded on the side of the road. To make the biggest impact on the Trinity School population, the curtain was hung from

the gate crossbar outside the gym. The gate leads to playground, cafeteria, and the Upper School from the main campus.