These other-worldly body casts made from plastic packaging reflect on the huge volumes of plastic packaging that we ‘throw away’ every day in our consumerist modern world.
Most things we buy are either made of plastic, or arrive wrapped in plastic.
And what happens to it?
The Big Plastic Count this May (see link below) suggests that UK homes produce around 100 BILLION pieces of plastic packaging a year, with only 12% being re-cycled in the UK.
The rest is exported to other countries to deal with (17%), buried in landfill (25%) or burnt in incinerators (45%).
This is appalling. We know some plastics are toxic and can harm our health. We don’t know the long-term issues with others. We can see the harm done to wildlife and eco-systems from plastics in the natural environment.
We are now ingesting plastic in the water that we drink (bottled and tap), in the food we eat, and in the air we breathe.
Is it too far-fetched to think that we are becoming plastic?
https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/resources/big-plastic-count-final-report/
The Insatiables were in the café at Market Hall, Plymouth, PL1 4PS, as part of the Drawn to the Valley Spring Exhibition, 24-27 May 2024.
I was thrilled to take part in Act with the Arts Climate Festival, Newton Abbot, 22-29 June 2024 where The Insatiables were shown at their best alongside the unsettling film Unnatural Tides, made in collaboration with Thomas Cass in 2019. The haunting soundtrack, based on recordings of whales calling and crashing plastic and composed by Thomas, fitted perfectly with the dystopian vision created by The Insatiables. The old warehouse with its crumbling walls, rusty metal and dark wooden beams was the ideal backdrop. Focused spotlights provided drama and shadows that magnified the bodily presence. I received wonderful feedback.
Where can I find to rival this setting?
Can we survive the environmental crisis we have forged for ourselves?
I hope so, but the world’s leaders must wake up to the urgency of necessary change, and learn the lessons of the natural world.
judy harington 