Every year, at least 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean. That plastic gets digested by sea animals, gets stuck or tangled around their bodies, or it just sits there in the water emitting toxic chemicals. A lot of trash travels in the ocean and settles into “gyres”, or, ocean garbage patches, trapped by currents. Thus, large amounts of plastic, chemical sludge and other debris end up in the same places, making essentially islands of garbage. Soon the whole world could look like this. 

For our final project in Space and Materiality, my group and I decided to make a globe out of plastic. We used recycled plastic bags from our own consumption to form the world’s continents. Our idea was to show the excess of plastic that we produce and throw away, and that we can actually use some of our trash to make things. We wanted to give our trash a second life.

However, for aesthetic’s sake, we decided to use Party City blue tablecloth plastic to resemble the oceans. I felt really conflicted about this, because it’s just encouraging more plastic being bought and thrown away, but under the time allotted it seemed like the only option for an aesthetically pleasing end product, which we all wanted.

The presentation of our project led to a lively debate amongst the group. Should we blow up our globe in a park, or a waterway to hint at the garbage islands? That seemed like it would just be adding to the problem. So we decided to blow it up from inside of a trash can, with other pieces of trash around it, as a dark commentary on the future of our world.

After we came up with the concept, I drew outlines of the continents on Adobe Illustrator and scaled them up mathematically. We then printed them out, tracing the shapes onto the plastic fabric. I also spent a lot of time ironing the plastic bags we collected into fabric, as well as collecting bags, cutting out continents, buying and bringing other tools we needed, discussing the presentation, and doing research on our issue.

  I really enjoyed this project because the craft is so hands-on and intuitive, and it allowed me to seriously consider how harmful plastic really is to the ocean, to the air, to animals, and to ourselves. How can we decrease the amount of plastic we acquire and dispose of? How do we dispose of it properly? I learned that most of the plastic we throw in the recycling bin doesn’t even get recycled, including plastic bags. Now that I know that we can use our trash ourselves, I will be thinking a lot more critically before I purchase and before I throw away; Maybe there is a lot more art to be made from recycled garbage.

I made a mask out of recycled newspaper in the shape of a seed to represent a seed of true democracy. This mask was inspired by an experience I had in Istanbul where I got caught up in protests to save a park—that larger issue was about saving true democracy in Turkey. I was teargassed by the police and the protesters were so kind to me and helped me treat my eyes. They told me never to wash my eyes out with water, but instead to do it with milk or seltzer. Thus, I painted tears of milk below the eyes of my mask. They then said to put lemon juice under and below my eyes, so I painted lemons above the eyes on my mask. The background of the mask is teargas as well as newspaper to symbolize the political impact of the protest. The mask didn’t turn out the way I wanted it but it is meaningful to me because of all of the symbolism behind each choice I made. When someone puts this mask on, they are prepared to save the world one peaceful protest at a time.

For my final project I made bustiers inspired by previous projects and experiences, as well as my rising interest in fashion and the dark underbelly of fashion industry. Alongside that, I wrote a research paper for Seminar attempting to show the value of transparency and local engagement in the fashion industry, through my interpretations of the visual culture of three fashion labels.

The bustiers use symbolism to address ocean pollution, capitalism, colonialism, genetic modification, and female beauty standards. I aim to critique, while hopefully galvanizing and encouraging people to learn about and act on important issues. They are simultaneously personal to me, and relevant to the world. They are all made from recycled plastic and soda cans to remind people of pollution and consumerism and to show people that we can use some of our trash instead of piling into landfills. In my research paper I explore the harmful effects of the fashion industry, including the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse, different types of pollution, dangerous working conditions, and damages to local economies.

Each wearable statement has a different texture, material, cut, and message, but they all explore the intersection between design and activism; two fields that desperately need each other. Activism and creativity are my inspiration for almost all of my projects. I see works similar to my line of bustiers by Slow Factory, a company that I discuss in my research paper.

These bustiers work with the female body and the environment around it. I creative-directed a photoshoot at Coney Island, with photographer Katie Comfort and model Klara Nilson. I chose the setting and backgrounds carefully to relate to the issues each piece speaks about, and to overall evoke nostalgic Americana and consumerism.

Ultimately I want my pieces to draw in the eye, and with it, the mind. With both my seminar research paper and my studio project, I want people to think critically about what they’re putting on their bodies, and the effect is has on the world around them.