As a sculpture assistant for the project, artist Nadia Elgazar has been working with Nelson’s plastic waste. This post describes her research, discoveries, and personal thoughts about the material after working intensively with it for the last three months.
Plastic is used in almost every product we consume, but do we understand its effects on the environment? On our own health? This (economically) cheap and versatile material is widely understood as convenient, yet at what price?
It goes without saying that plastic is everywhere, and its production has increased at an alarming rate. The production of plastic has increased from 2 million tons in 1950, to 368 million in 2019, and is expected to triple by 2060. Oil and energy consumption needed to make plastics is at an all-time high; plastic remains and harms and kills wildlife; chemicals are leached into groundwater from plastics in landfills; and human health is harmed. A notable example of our overconsumption of plastic exists in the form of garbage patches, which are large accumulations of waste–primarily in the form of micro plastics–found in oceans around the world. The largest one, the Great Pacific garbage patch, is estimated to be around 1.6 million km2 in size- that’s more than 12 times the size of Greece.
In the process of working with plastic packaging, I’ve been looking at the different types of plastics used, their physical properties, and their effects on human and environmental health. On plastic packaging you’ll find a number ranging from 1-7 indicating the type of plastic, as shown here:
These numbers also indicate the degree of the plastic’s recyclability, toxicity, and harm to the environment. Some of these types of plastics have been found to leach into food products and are known to be either carcinogenic or to affect human hormonal development. For instance, PET (1) is used for the majority of food and beverages we consume, yet leach carcinogens when exposed to heat. It is also important to note that number 7 consists of all other plastics that do not fit into the first six categories; plastics in this ‘other’ category are known to contain bisphenol A, which can cause cancer, obesity, and type-2 diabetes; traces of BPA have been found in human blood, breast milk, and amniotic fluid.
Another point of concern is the eventual breakdown of products into microplastics, the existence of which has become especially well-known recently. Microplastics, which are particles 5mm or smaller in size, have rapidly spread to all corners of the Earth, including the depths of ocean trenches and top of Mount Everest. Microplastics also exist in the air we breathe, food we eat, and water we drink- and just this year, microplastics have been found in samples of human blood. Its effects require further research, yet there are concerns of it lodging in our organs or causing disease Furthermore, plastic pollution and climate change are usually understood as separate environmental issues, however research shows that they are linked. Both are caused by the overconsumption of limited resources; the use of fossil fuels, as energy or in plastic production, directly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions; and plastics even release greenhouse gases when breaking down.
In the collaborative effort of working with a year’s worth of material waste produced by Jennifer and her family, my focus area is plastic packaging. The process consists of assessing their different physical properties, disassembling or stripping them into pieces, and condensing them into new, stronger objects such as rope and fabric. Ultimately, the goal is to merge the year’s-worth of waste into a wearable form that the artist will have to support with her body- therefore building a sturdy construction is vital.
Overall, the process of creating durable items was repetitive, and at times physically strenuous. The physical and psychological effects I felt depended on the item that I was crafting. The ropes made from trash bags were the result of repetitive braiding, a fatiguing process due to the physical effort needed to twist and braid something compressed and durable. The effort is reflected in the final outcome; these ropes seem to be the strongest objects so far.
The rope made from agricultural netting required repetitive work too, yet less physical effort. I was losing a lot of material in the process of condensing this material into something stronger, however. The net is brittle and easily sheds small pieces of plastic, which is a worrisome thought when considering its original intended use in crop protection.
For the final object, the plastic fabric, I sewed together LDPE plastic from packaging including bread bags, sanitary products, and plastic shrink film that holds cans together, using plastic strands from a potato bag as thread. This process required more detailed, close contact work. Here, the visual effect was the most striking of all three objects; I was almost overly stimulated when working closely with it for long periods of time due to its highly saturated colors and shiny material.
At this stage, the physical process dominates the psychological one when I work with the waste. I see these materials for their physical properties and potential, no longer as aware of what their initial use was. However, this was not always the case. The beginning stages of the process involved viewing the unsorted trash straight out of the garbage bags and sorting it. It was strange taking out the trash from the bags that hide it so well; I felt it shouldn’t be out in the open once it was conveniently gotten rid of in the first place. Also, the act of witnessing the ‘archaeological remnants’ of the artist’s family felt like an invasion into their personal lives at first. Looking back now, I realize that I have become desensitized to what the waste represents, and now see it for its physical potential for reuse.
Currently, the psychological effects especially come into play when I leave the workspace. After viewing and treating packaging as crafting material during each 4-5 hour session, I see packaging in the ‘outside world’ as out of place, disruptive, and repulsive- especially when it is used for consumable products such as food and drink. The artificial and literal ‘plastic’ nature of packaging has become much more apparent, as well as its abundant existence in every aspect in our lives. We think we get rid of plastic waste once we throw it away, yet microplastics linger in the soil where we grow our food, in our drinking water, and in the air we breathe. For the sake of convenience, it has become acceptable to use something that damages our resources, and in turn, our health- plastic has become a parasite that we can no longer ignore.
Nadia Elgazar received her bachelor’s degrees in Visual Arts and Art History from the American College of Greece, and was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Award and the Frances Rich Scholarship for both degrees. Being Greek and Egyptian, she has resided in both countries, as well as in the UAE and the US; she currently works in Athens, Greece. Pursuing her interest in production design and cinematography, Elgazar has worked in the art and production departments in a number of Jennifer Nelson’s works: Democracy is a Party, To Be Voiced, and currently, Waste (Inheritance).
Return to blog
- Waste (Inheritance) #Report1
- Waste (Inheritance) #Report2
- Questions #1
- Waste (Inheritance) Report #3 by Nadia Elgazar
- Waste (Inheritance) Report #4 by Nori Tsouloucha
- Questions #2
- Waste (Inheritance) #Report5 by Petros Tatsiopoulos
