gizmodo.com: Alarmed by all the plastic packaging you see when you go shopping? You’re not alone. An interactive art exhibit called The Plastic Bag Store showcases what an entire grocery store may look like if everything—including the food itself—was made of plastic.
3 comments:
I am glad to hear that everything in this exhibit was recycled from already used plastic. It would have been really odd and weird if this installation piece was made from anything other than recycled plastic. It definitely would have defeated the purpose and meaning of this piece but man would it have been ironic. Just based off of the pictures that are included in the article, I do not know how successful this artist was in getting their message and meaning across completely clearly. But with that being said I think it is kind of a unique idea and that the actual “ products” on display in this store installation are interesting to look at. Although I don't know if I would ever really like to make a point to see this installation. I do think that the message that the artist is trying to get across with this piece is rather important and I would be interested in seeing what other people think of this piece as well.
This is a fascinating installation. I agree that packaging, specifically plastic packaging is grossly overused in our society. We wrap things in plastic that mother nature has already given us a protector for! (i.e banana). But, this article also highlighted that banning plastic grocery bags may only drive up sales of other plastic products. This is something that I hadn’t considered as fallout before. It seems as though, like many things, that this problem will never be as simple as we want it to be to fix. I am grateful that in the mean time we have some incredible art to enjoy, look at, and ponder. I think my favorite section of this grocery store would be the produce section. Even seeing flowers made of plastic, although beautiful, was haunting. To see something intended to be so organic made from something that will quite literally never decompose is a humbling experience.
It's ridiculous how much plastic packaging is used in grocery and food sales for many reasons. The first is that it is excessive. There is no need to wrap everything in three layers of plastic before selling it when it could be in cardboard or at least one layer. The second reason is that it makes it much easier for microplastics to end up in our food and bodies, which is already showing scientifically that it increases the risk of cancer and other illnesses. I've seen this idea of "a grocery store made entirely of..." before with yarn, but I like that this version has a message behind it rather than just being a cool art piece. I am glad it was slated to line up with the New York bag ban, even if this plan didn't come to fruition. Recently, Virginia started charging for plastic bags, and I saw an increase in reusable bag use in stores. I'm hoping that Pennsylvania does this soon, too, because it seems to be a significant issue here.
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