Trashlantis made its big appearance at the Akron Art Museum this past week. He’s a sampling of some of the artwork on view and the amazingly articulate labels the teens contributed. We’re going to take a break for the summer but we’ll be back in the fall with an exciting new sketchbook project, graphic novel and zine workshops and some exciting field trips and career visits.
Dred, Firestone High school, junior
“Bottom Feeders”
Bowling balls, polyurethane foam, twist off caps, sea shells, two liter bottles, golf club handles, tubes
Bottom Feeders was inspired by the fact that everything has a lower class whether it is humans, objects, or animals, and the fact that we need that lower class to survive. So I focused on bottom feeders of the ocean. Not only do they feed off the bottom of the ocean, but they also have a symbiotic relationship with many of the other species around it, providing their services to help others and for personal gain.
Claire, Firestone High School, Senior
“Sick Albatross”
Melted plastic, compact discs, plastic and metal fan blades, steel porch swing, piping, woven hammock with wood, zip ties, blue recycling bag, polyurethane foam, hot glue, other small trash
“And I had done a hellish thing,
And it would work ‘em woe:
For all averred, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay
That made the breeze to blow!”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Birds are among the countless innocent casualties of our species’ dependence on disposable goods, particularly those made of plastic. The albatross’ belly, a recycle bag, is bulging with food containers, bottles, tubs, cans, jugs, caps and various other items which find their way into the Pacific Ocean, turning the sea into a vast watery grave. Mistaking the brightly-colored bits of plastic for food, marine birds feed the trash to their chicks, unintentionally causing their young to choke, starve, or, if they manage to survive into adulthood, be permanently sick and poisoned by the toxicity to which they were exposed.
Katie, Ellet High School, Senior
“Stanley the Open-Minded Octopoda”
Made from a chandelier, speaker, plastic bottle caps, wires, CDs, yo-yo, metal tubing, vacuum cleaner attachment, unknown objects
“Stanley the Open-Minded Octopoda” sways gracefully throughout the ocean; with his speaker top hat as the Crown, he is blissful, with his Third Eye he opens the doors of perception. The other five Chakras also do their part in balancing Stanley’s energy. Stanley is a very peaceful creature, simply wanting to clean up the waste humans leave behind with his metal tubing vacuum tentacle.
