Fall 2020

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Punctuating soil, lake, river, ocean these
Leftover consumerist fragments lodge
Accusingly in bird guts, falsely 
Satiating stomachs until the end as
Toxins leech into soil like a virus, seeping, 
Infiltrating water that will be put to 
Children’s lips, to deer lips, frog lips, fish lips, 
Slumbering until they form an army. 

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Plastic pollution is a global environmental issue. It plugs up local waterways, leaches chemicals into soils and drinking water and harms animals that mistake small pieces as food. This pollution also exemplifies our tendencies towards waste. After living near housing construction sites in St. Augustine, Florida for a semester, I was dismayed to find all of the sites littered with plastic bottles, food wrappers, and discarded construction items, among other things. I also found heaping dumpsters full of unused or barely used wood destined for the landfill.

 

In an effort to raise awareness about plastic pollution and waste, I created Refuse, a temporary art installation that I installed in conjunction with a community-wide cleanup. In total, we had about 10 cleanup participants and we collected about 40 Ibs of trash from around the neighborhood. 

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The creation process for Refuse started with nightly construction site cleanups and the discovery of hundreds of colorful plastic cap roofing nails scattered throughout the sites. After collecting hundreds of these, I decided to turn waste into an art piece. Refuse was made with 1,508 plastic cap roofing nails collected from seven home construction sites, discarded wood from dumpsters, and upcycled fishing line. 

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