Zixuan Chen
About the Sea
Installation
2022
Biodegradable plastics and light clay
18inch(l)*20inch(w)*6inch(h)
Marine pollution has been an increasingly severe issue that negatively impacts all human beings on earth. To raise people’s environmental awareness and call on people of all ages and social background to protect our ocean, I created my work "About the Sea" using environmentally friendly materials (biodegradable plastics and ultra light clay) only. My work consists of four parts and each simulates a unique object related to the marine pollution. By presenting marine related original work, I sincerely hope that people can reconsider their current lifestyle, look back at our ocean and gradually replace disposable materials which are toxic to the ocean with Eco-friendly and recyclable materials. Small individual efforts can make a big difference to our ocean.
“ My work, About the Sea, is an installation made of biodegradable plastics and super light clay. The concept of my work is protection of the marine environment, which arises from a piece of news I read about the increasing pollution of ocean. For my work I have used all environmentally friendly materials. One of it is the biodegradable plastics, the other one is super light clay. I hope the use of these environment friendly materials could express the theme of protecting the marine environment. There are three installation art works which in different shapes will be displayed. According to the research about the marine pollution, one of the artwork is based on the idea of Styrofoam, so I made a foam shape design. The second inspiration comes from marine garbage. I made a design with irregular shape to reflect the abandoned fishing net and the cloth sinking at the bottom of the sea. The third one is about the design of marine organism. Due to global warming, the number of marine species dropped significantly over the past decade. At the end, I made biodegradable plastics sheets which fully presents the properties of biodegradable plastics. The sheet is very sturdy and durable. It is possible to make it as a shopping bag. I advocate people to use biodegradable plastic instead of non-biodegradable materials. Overall, I believe the marine natural ecosystem is an important support for the sustainable development of mankind. I hope to use my work to call on people to protect the marine environment.”