Dive Brief:
- Artist Alejandro Duran spent years hauling plastic waste that washed ashore on the Sian Ka'an coastline in Mexico.
- Using the pieces of plastic, Duran created "Washed Up," an installation that transforms the plastics into unique designs that serve as a commentary about waste in the environment while drawing attention to the plight of human-generated waste filling the world’s landscape.
- The artist’s work depicts waste that he retrieved from 50 nations that washed ashore on a single location. He used the international debris to design "site-specific sculptures."
Dive Insight:
Duran said , "More than creating a surreal or fantastical landscape, these installations mirror the reality of our current environmental predicament…The alchemy of Washed Up lies not only in converting a trashed landscape, but in the project’s potential to raise awareness and change our relationship to consumption and waste."