Facts and statistics in plastic pollution

-18 billion pounds of plastic waste flows into the oceans every year from coastal regions.

-40% of plastic produced is packaging, used just once and then discarded.

– Less than a fifth of all plastic is recycled globally.

-One million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastic in our ocean.

-Scientists found 20 particles of micro plastic in every 10g of stool.

-8 million tons of plastic ends up in the sea each year.

-Plastic is found in a third of the UK’s caught fish.

-Microplastics range in size from 5mm to 10 nanometers.

-A turtle has a 22% chance of dying from eating 1 piece of plastic.

 

Mandy Barker

 I like this because the markings on the bottle looks like an eye. This adds to the detail, which makes the bottle look like a fish. I can attempt this style by scanning singular objects and try to manipulate the plastic, rather by hand or in photoshop to create marine creatures.

I like the tag line at the bottom of the right page, which reads, “Would you eat plastic?… you already are…” For my final pieces I can experiment with different text to apply to my posters. I will be looking into facts and statistics and basing my text on that. My main concept is how plastic is in the fish we eat, as well as other marine life.

I like that this image is a deep blue and black, this creates the illusion that the scene is in the depth of the ocean. I also like the placement of the objects as this creates the effect that they are moving. This series that this image belongs in is called Shoal. This is the name given to a large group of fish that are swimming together, this means that the plastic represents the fish. For my scanograms I will experiment with the placement of the plastic  to show movement.

Polluted water Popsicles

I like that the artists have created a wide range of faux popsicles with different packaging to show that the water has been collected from the 100 different locations in Taiwan.

I like the use of the clear resin as you can clearly see the dirty water with plastic inside it. For my idea I will recreate this by using the plastic I found on the beach to place into moulds. I will aim to use a clear resin so you can easily identify the plastic, although if I am unable to use this, then I will aim to use a translucent resin instead.

I like the attention to detail in the packaging as it has got the location where the sample was taken in both Mandarin and English. The packaging further shows that they are popsicles. This emphasises that we are consuming food with plastic in it. I won’t create packaging, however I will aim to use fish moulds to show that plastic is in the fish that we are eating.

Art techniques

I like the use of the resin as it holds the content inside it. Also, because the resin is transparent, you can clearly the feathers inside. I would like to use the plastic I have found, as well as resin, in a fish mould to show that plastic is being consumed by fish. If the resin is clear then this might make it harder to see the detail of the the fish. In order to see the detail, I might paint in the detail.

I like the style of this, as it is presented as a magazine cover. The meaning of the poster is to show that plastic is being eaten by animals, and to put it in perspective, they used a rhetorical question to show if humans would consider drinking plastic. For my posters I will consider using text to emphasise my point, I might decide on using a rhetorical question or facts and statistics.

I  like this because it is clear that the meaning of this poster is that we are eating plastic, which is in fish. I also like the simplicity of this design. However, I don’t like the colour of the plastic as it blends in with the background, in order to stop this they could’ve used a dark colour to outline the shapes. I might experiment will this illustrative style, if I do, I will include more than just plastic bottles as plastic has many uses.

I like this because the artist created the outline of the turtle as well as the objects inside the turtle. If the poster didn’t have the dark blue outline, then it may be harder to identify the shape they’ve created. I will attempt to re-create the poster without the outline, by using the scanner. If this doesn’t go well, then I will experiment in photoshop as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andy Hughes

I like the lighting from the sunset as this allows the viewer to identify the object as a lighter. The colour of the lighter looks vibrant and similar to an ice lolly. This could be juxtaposing that the lighter is appetising and is being eaten by the marine life. The plastic itself is dangerous enough if consumed, the lighter fluid is even more toxic. Even though I like this style of work, I wont incorporate lighting as I want the posters to be simplistic.

I like that the background is blurred as this makes the object stand out more. I will create a plain coloured background with little to no text, so the foreground can be the focus point of my poster.

I like the plastic that has been used, as it looks like it has been bitten. As a result of this I will be primarily focusing on using plastic that is the most damaged, to add to the effect that it has been left on the beach for quite some time.

I like the use of the take-away rubbish because the sauced used in the meal looks like blood. This could add to the message that the consumption of plastic is killing marine life. Although I like this concept, I have chosen to not make my work graphic as I am focusing on a more blue toned effect for my posters. I will also experiment with different neutral colours for my end pieces.

Andrew Goldsworthy

I like that the sticks are curved and give the illusion that the large rock has created a ripple. I can experiment with movement in my designs to show that the marine life is alive.

I like the formation of the rocks as they gradually go from light to dark. I will use this colour scheme for my posters as these colours are mostly likely to be found in marine life, because they are cool toned.

I like the amount of detail that is in the sculpture. I also appreciate how delicate the leaves are, which would make this difficult to achieve. Another reason I like this is because it is in the style of a fossil, which is commonly found on beaches. I can use the fossil shape as a pathway into researching other marine life that I could use for my posters.

I like that the pattern has been created with a focus point, which is in the centre. Therefore, I will focus my designs in the centre of the page. I also like that the leaves have been arranged in water as this shows the reflection of possibly trees in the background.

Litter picking

I went to my local beach to collect plastic that I could use towards my project during experimentations, by collecting plastic from beaches I am making a contribution to my chosen current affair.

I found that most of the plastic was straws and also food wrappers. The litter was mostly higher up the beach, instead of being by the water. This suggests that the majority of the waste is being deposited by visitors to the beach. However, there is the chance that plastic is being washed up by the sea. This could be due to other countries throwing rubbish in the water, therefore it is being bought to the UK, as well as the litter that the UK is leaving behind. Another reason for the amount of plastic on the beaches could be due to people throwing rubbish off of boats when they are on cruises. An example of this is when I went on a cruise and there was a table tennis table on the top deck, by the end of the cruise there were no balls left, as they have gone overboard due to the wind. In order to prevent this, they could have table tennis tables inside. Another form of plastic on beaches is micro-plastics, although this is hard to measure due to not being as visible to the naked eye. I believe that micro-plastics are the most harmful to marine life because it is the easiest plastic to be consumed, therefore the fish we eat has plastic in it.

One item of plastic I was surprised to find was a used tampon applicator, why was it on the beach? Did someone change a tampon on the beach, if so why because there were toilets reasonably close to the beach. If someone did this as apposed to going to the toilet, then this is just lazy, like all littering is. Also this is extremely unhygienic, therefore I didn’t pick it up.  In order to reduce the amount of plastic used in sanitary products there needs to be more variety in products. Cost is also a major factor as they are overpriced enough as they are and are an essential. They could design bio- degradable products, where they decompose overtime. Although from a marketing perspective, they would have to evaluate the cost of creating the product compared with the profit they wish to make. Overall, I think that there should be more caution with sanitary products and women should be informed in how to dispose of them properly. As well as having more variety in what products are available. I am aware of a product, which is called the Diva Cup, this acts as a substitute to tampons and is made out of silicone. It also is re-usable and requires to be washed out after each use. However, not every women would want to use this and therefore there needs to be more alternatives.

Fran Crowe

I like that the litter has been remarketed as ‘wild bird food’ as this is a great campaign to show the risk these materials have on the environment. I also like the amount of detail that has gone into the packaging with the labels and the seal on the lid. I think that the jars could be glass, which would be helping combat the problem with single use plastics, as they are reusable. If the containers were coloured, then this could make the objects more difficult to identify. In my posters I can include a similar idea with showing that we are also ingesting plastic. I could use a caption like ‘what goes in the ocean goes in us’ or something similar to this.

I like that the materials she uses are found by herself on beaches. This shows that she is actively making a change in her campaign by using the plastics and other materials that she has found.  I will apply this to my project by continuing to collect plastic from beaches to help me with my work. This will be an ongoing process so I can get a range of different plastic objects.

I like that each individual item has been packaged and put onto a wall to clearly show how many different objects have been found.  I also like how minimalistic the packaging is as this encourages you to get closer to the artwork, as the text is microscopic. I would like to focus on individual items of plastic instead of a collection of plastics. This could be mainly the collection of straws that I have found, as they are the most recognisable objects. Therefore, this gives me more creativity as I could include the whole image, through photography, or I could create a collection of straws using photoshop. This would allow me to work specifically on reducing the amount of plastic straws we use. In order to combat this problem we could not use any straws or use metal straws.

I like the organisation of the plastic and that it is separated by colour. I could include vibrant colours to make my poster more enticing.  I could do this by making the scanograms with coloured plastic, since I will be using a black silk background, there will be a noticeable contrast between the plastic and the background. I could also include light coloured plastic on top of a dark background to represent the depths of the ocean.

 

Scanograms

I like the use of the hand because this creates the impression that it is harmful and therefore more effective than just litter alone.  I also think that the message of this work is that we are responsible for the litter that could have been found in public areas, such as beaches. I will experiment with using other people in my scans instead of rely on the use of plastic that I collected.

I like that the cotton buds are aligned, however I don’t like that they aren’t in a pattern or differentiated between colour. For my experiment I will ensure that my plastics are differentiated between different forms of plastic as well as colour.

I like the use of bright colours as this catches the eye, the colours used could be symbolic to physics and the spectrum of light. I will move the objects as I am scanning them to create different effects.

I like that the clothes pegs are in a spiral pattern, similarly to what is also found in nature. Therefore, I will try to recreate some marine wildlife out of plastic. I will do this by using a variety of plastic that I found on a beach to create fish.

 

Cyanotypes

I like the dark blue background colour. This could be controlled due to the amount of exposure to the UV light.  I will experiment with different plastics to show different  levels of transparency through the cyanotypes.

I will create cyanotypes because the word ‘cyan’ means blue and my chosen current affair is plastic pollution, which mostly ends up in the ocean, which is also blue. This could allow me to create the illusion that objects are in the ocean, with the help of photoshop. I like the use of seaweed as it is a plant with many different elements to it with the roots, blade and stripe. This has inspired me to experiment with different thicknesses of plastic, which will be layered on top of one another or next to one another.

I like this because it looks like a ball of sellotape, which is plastic. I like the marks which looks like where one layer joins to another. Whilst I was litter picking for plastics I found quite a few clear plastics in wrappers and bottles, I think it would be interesting to see how they appear as a cyanotype with the different designs they have.

I like the lace clothing as it is a thin material, so this allows a large amount of light to pass through. The textures suggests that the item of clothing is made out of different forms of lace or different materials. I could use lace with the plastic to resemble a plastic bag, this would be ideal, as you would be able to see the different plastics in the lace, although they may not be very visible.