The Parting of the Plastic Sea
Walking through this giant wave device is like walking through a dark green ocean with white waves. No one will not be shocked by this magnificent beauty. But if you observe carefully, you will find that this beauty is actually made up of plastic straws, the culprit of marine pollution. Artist Benjamin Von Wong gathered environmental protection volunteers, collected 168,000 discarded straws on the seashore and street, and finished the work after complicated screening, cleaning, coloring and modeling. The ocean with dark green straws, the waves of white straws and the "halo" dotted with golden straws together shape a spectacular scene in which the ocean is split in half, bringing a very strong visual experience.
It takes only 25 minutes to produce a piece of plastic, but hundreds of years to degrade it. For this reason, plastic waste abandoned for several years has become a pain that is difficult for the planet to clean itself up. Many years ago, a documentary film named "Garbage Besieged City" revealed the cruel truth of "we have been surrounded by plastic" with documentary images, while Von Wong used the most powerful contrast technique in art to construct a false and spectacular beauty from plastic garbage, which made the audience immerse themselves in it while recalling the cruel truth behind it, and felt ashamed because he was also the snowflake that caused the avalanche.
Plastic waste is just one aspect of Von Wong's concern. This long-sighted artist always pays attention to various environmental problems. He once collected clothes that people only wore once, set up the tallest wardrobe in the world, and awakened the "fast fashion" of excessive consumption; It also collected 4,100 pounds of discarded computers, keyboards and electronic products, pieced together surreal sci-fi scenes, and inspired people to replace waste with recycling. He has always used his dedication to art to protect the environment.