Art created from shopping bags
A sculpture, made out of more than 2600 plastic supermarket bags, is on display at Feilding’s Trade Aid store.
The work of local artist Rachel Dore, the plastic bags were collected from friends, Feilding Trade Aid volunteers and staff at the Feilding Herald.
“So I am not the only one guilty of forgetting to take my re-useable shopping bag out of the car at the supermarket,” said Dore.
The sculpture, titled Kyrie, is part of Trade Aid’s nationwide Fair Trade Fortnight, May 3 to 16.
Each Trade Aid store in New Zealand is represented by one local artist, who converts junk into a piece of art. Organisers specify materials are to be locally available and abundant, creating a low-impact environmentally friendly item.
The figure was built up from a central core of a cardboard tube, and the plastic-bag pieces were bulked and layered and laminated with a hot iron. The front of the torso, and the swirling band around the figure have a wire- netting foundation layer, using old chicken-wire scraps. The head, arms and detailing were made out of carefully manipulated plastic bags.
Dore said she researched the effects of heat on the plastic bags, with advice from a Manawatu plastic firm.
“I needed to know I was not releasing toxins during the process. Apparently, the effect of ironing the plastic bags simply rearranges the polymer molecules. It only becomes toxic and unsafe when people burn it.”
Dore said people could interpret the figure as they liked.
“I wanted the figure to seem to be singing, or calling – a sort of waiata or Kyrie, caught in the world that accepts poisons and pollutants like plastics as a necessary component of everyday commerce,” she said.
Ali Parr, Feilding’s Trade Aid store manager said the artwork was very different from anything the Trade Aid staff imagined.
“When Rachel asked us all to bring in our plastic bags we thought the sculpture would be something all floppy, or covered with plastic bows and streamers. The result is absolutely fantastic. We are very impressed,” Mrs Parr said.
Artworks from the country’s 29 Trade Aid stores will be exhibited at the Wellington Town Hall as part of World Environment Day celebrations (June 3).
The theme this year is Environmental Justice.
New Zealand was chosen to host the United Nations Environment Programme 2008, and Wellington is the host city for World Environment Day.
Tags: shopping bags
