The reason I returned at night to St Katharine Dock was to see the amazing installation "Future Dust" (above) by Spanish artist Maria Arceo (below) and light artist Tim Scheffer, part of Totally Thames and the Thames Plastic project.
I've seen this in the Thames when out kayaking or doing one of the Thames 21 clean-ups, but its not just our river its a global problem with our seas polluted with this material that doesn't decay but ends up returning to us in the fish we eat.
Maria Arceo was artist in residence on the eXXpedition which sailed with a crew of 14 women across across the Atlantic, taking samples as they went. It was really good to have a chance to meet with her and hear her stories first hand.
The installation (by day, below) consists of cages containing plastic rubbish, all of which was collected by the banks of the Thames in London over a year or so. The cages are arranged in the shape of a footprint, as can be seen if you get a view from above:
There is simply so much of it, and it last so long its a really big problem we need to all address. Afterwards I tried like Frogma's Bonnie to go plastic free but in today's society it is almost impossible. It needs structural changes to make it possible.
I really hope this impressive and though-provoking installation helps change attitudes so we make those changes and protect our rivers, seas and wildlife from this scourge.
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