Muhing Okhrabu

‘By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean’ (Drowning in Plastic, 2018), was a quote I found quite intriguing, it had no other numbers aside the year, yet that comparison alone was enough to put things into perspective. Reflecting on my notes I made whilst watching the documentary, Drowning in Plastics (2018), I came to realise that the majority of them were numerical facts and statistics. It encouraged me to research further into this numeric theme. I used a website (Condor Ferries, 2021) that gathered information from other sources and complied them into a singular web page.  

These sources created a foundation for me to structure my initial ideas around numbers. I looked at multiples of the same plastic, used a range of sizes to show a comparison, and experimented with joining materials to demonstrate growth. Using different resources such as plastic water bottles, acetate and expanded polystyrene, I investigated their material properties and tried to create basic forms as initial inspiration.

I began with cutting and scoring the plastics (mainly with acetate) and experimented with slotting, this created interesting structures that were aesthetically pleasing when photographed but was not what I wanted. I moved onto slicing the expanded polystyrene into thin shreds, this gave me exciting cell-like forms. Continuing from that, I used a metal wire to connect the pieces together. The outcome resembled marine life, and from that I did additional research where I collected images of coral reefs, waves, and sea foam, all of which had similar forms to the expanded polystyrene. The new references helped direct my next stages for development. Furthermore, I researched artists that could influence my project. I found inspiration from Laura Anne Marsden (St Albans Museum 2020) who worked with a similar netting form, transforming it into a garment, and Paul Cocksedge (Paul Cocksedge Studio 2003), who used heat to reshape the polystyrene into organic forms.

Looking over the photographs I took of the piece I had made so far; I noticed the metal wire that acted as a thread could be seen and disharmonised the rhythmic form I was intending for. From this, I looked at other ways of connecting the pieces. I experimented with strips of plastic used for vacuum forming rather than wire, but the replacement was less flexible. To resolve this, I took the idea from Paul Cocksedge’s work with styrene and placed the plastic under hot water and reshaped it into curves, however, though this gave a fascinating form, it was still unsatisfying. I looked at different adhesives and considered joining the pieces along their edges rather than threading. The adhesives I considered were wax, PVA and using a hot glue gun. The hot glue gun worked the best, and I was able to play with it the most. I produced a range of models and for my final photography I used a variety of them to create the outcome I wanted.

Due to the holes within the shredded pieces of expanded polystyrene, its strength came in photography when it created elegant shadows that matched its delicate form. The final piece itself shows scale, growth and has aspects that can be used in comparisons. But due to not wanting much negative space in the final photograph, the image had to be taken up close. Overall, the structure can be used to raise awareness, through plastic being the only material used to the spiralling almost out of control increase in amount, as well as the shadows greatly replicating the silhouette of marine life.