We never imagined when we started picking up plastic from Kehoe Beach in 1999 that we would end up in the Washington Post. We are so happy to be included in the great press…and thrilled to be a small part of such a magnificent exhibition. AND, at our most favorite museum ever.
Plastic Forever
Since 1999 Richard and Judith Lang have focused their attention on just 1000 yards of tide line where they have collected plastic washing ashore on Kehoe Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore. Although the news about plastic pollution is dire, they bring the excitement of scouting for treasures and the pleasure of the creative life to an otherwise difficult topic.
Friday, February 12, 2021
Thursday, December 10, 2020
As Above, So Below UPDATE
COVID has put the kibosh on most everything.
Exhibitions have been cancelled or delayed. Plans scuttled.
Undaunted, creative souls are rising to the moment with new ways to experience art. Under the directorship of Rebecca Hoffberger, museum founder, visionary among visionaries, the American Visionary Art Museum is offering online virtual docent-led tours and hands-on workshops. The Secret Life of Earth exhibition has been extended until September 2021 with the hope that by then COVID will be long gone.
The virtual tour is here : Episode One:
A longer video with a Q&A with us and other artists in the exhibition:
Thursday, December 3, 2020
Plastically Impossible Puzzles
At long last, the Plastically Impossible Puzzles are HERE!!!
The Ocean Recovery Alliance folks in HK have partnered with Ocean River Institute, a non-profit in Cambridge MA, to fulfill orders from the US:
|
Thursday, October 29, 2020
Gone Viral
October 29, 2020.
It was a crystal-blue sea and sky day at the beach with nary a piece of plastic to be seen. With or without plastic there is always plenty of camaraderie and conversation with artist extraordinaire Rebecca DiDomenico who was in California to visit family.
From a distance, a pinkish thing tucked into the sand at the far end of the beach was barely discernible. As I neared, the maroon appendages looked like a supercomputer rendering of the Covid-19 virus where the bright red spikes ring the body of the virus like jewel in a crown. Hence, the name “coronavirus.”
Confounded, I could not figure out what I was seeing. So bright, so virulent. Is that the virus washed ashore?
Back home, at my computer, my Google search took me to “Belly Flops Octopus” a plastic Kong dog chew toy and yes, it came from China.
It has been a year fraught with tales and blame about where the Covid-19 virus originated and how it rapidly spread person to person, imperiling the entire planet.
A seafood market in Wuhan, China has been hypothesized as the source for the outbreak but recent studies are finding the virus was already in Europe in late 2019.
We’ve grown so accustomed to there being great amounts of plastic on the beach, that we are surprised when there is near none. We fear our successful cleaning will have us putting up the “out-of-business” sign. But, we say, that even one piece of plastic on the beach is one too many. And, in the case today, even one tiny infectious agent, gone viral, is one detrimental gene too many.
Saturday, September 26, 2020
Reading Stones
Book object: Reading Stones
13 plastiglomerate stones in a cloth bag
Plastic may be with us for forever, as in these “reading stones” that were found on Kehoe Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore. Stones like these are washing ashore onto to beaches everywhere. It is not known how these stones are formed but some scientists believe they are the burnt residue of plastic that was once shipped to Asia for recycling where it was partially incinerated, then accidentally sent adrift.
These stones are evidence of a new geology being formed by melting plastic debris into pyroplastic plastiglomerates. Theses facsimiles of stones are made from polyethylene, polypropylene, along with a smorgasbord of colorants and chemical additives. In these charred remains, as “reading stones” they ask us to decipher our present and future relationship to resource extraction and our dependence on petroleum-based products.
The history of the Earth can be read in the layers of built up sediments. Each stratification offers an insight into a moment in natural history. On the Geological Time Scale, the Anthropocene describes the human impact on the planet, the Age of Oil describes the planetary catastrophe of our petroleum-based consumer culture.
People often do not understand the equation of oil=plastic, but every year thousands of barrels of oil and natural gas are extracted and used to make plastic. That plastic straw in your beverage is extracted fossil hydrocarbons.
The act of “reading stones” can refer to both the scientific practice of geological investigation and the ritual of lithomancy which seeks to interpret the patterns of stones cast by those wishing to divine the future.
Traditionally in Lithomancy, 13 similar stones were each assigned a symbol: astrological, planetary or elemental then placed in a bag. In a daily ritual, while pondering a question, 3 stones were drawn at random from the bag. From that group a message was read; a meaning was assigned in an intuitive way.
These “reading stones” serve in both capacities:
As a marker of the enduring impact of plastic on the planet.
As a message for the future.
Take three stones from the bag. Upon inspection you might recognize the charred remains of a toothbrush or a bottle cap; a tuft of rope or a clump of melted single-use plastic bags.
Place these stones in an arrangement that invites a close reading.
Conjure a question that only the stones can answer:
What is it that is being extracted? Is our future as a species being extracted? Is hope itself being extracted? As the most powerful and destructive entity on planet Earth, what can we do?
The stones sing, “let’s face the music and dance.”
Monday, September 21, 2020
Emotional Numbness: the impact of war on the human psyche and ecosystems
Curators Atefeh Khas and Minoosh Zomorodinia write:
"The exhibition focus is the impact of war on environments, and war’s effects on inhabitants of war zones. Recent escalating tensions between Iran and the United States is creating an increase in anxiety about potential war between these countries. Thus, the goal of the exhibition is to create a platform to share, meet, discuss, and cross borders, by exhibiting art which considers the impacts of war and the varying relationships between Iran and the United States. We believe art has the ability to affect perceptions, develop meaningful dialogue, and bring awareness about critical issues to the public."
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Happy Coastal Cleanup Month!!!
These days we’ve been challenged with beach closures and exhibition cancellations, but thanks to Jill Lessard, Evan Johnson and the great team at the Marin Community Media Center, the show will go on.
To celebrate Coastal Clean Up 2020 we created Virtual Fiesta a virtual show of what we would have had on display at the CMCM offices (Sept 1-Oct 31) and have scheduled programs about the ocean/beach/plastic, Time and Tide that will air at 5:30 PM on Saturdays Sept 5,12,19, 26. Programs can be viewed on Comcast 26 in San Rafael, AT&T 99 in California, or online https://cmcm.tv/livecommunity
September 5 will kick off with Chris Jordan's remarkable feature film Albatross. During the month several NOAAshorts along with a couple of pieces about Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary will air. Ocean Recovery Alliance in Hong Kong and Ocean Conservation Research in Lagunitas also contributed stories.
For more about Coastal Cleanup 2020, every Saturday in September:
https://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html
For more about Virtual Fiesta:
https://www.marinarts.org/event/local-virtual-fiesta-a-virtual-art-gallery-exhibit/
For more about One Beach Plastic:
Thanks for tuning in!
Stay safe.
Stay true.