Plastikophobia

 

While scrolling through images of plastic litter being turned into art, I came across this sculpture. I immediately clicked on it and began to read about it. I was drawn to the brightness of it and was curious about what materials it was made of. The sculpture was created by Von Wong and Joshua Got and is named “Plastikophobia”. The name comes from the fear the artist’s felt while creating this sculpture. The sculpture is made from over 18,000 single use plastic cups. With the help of  around three dozen volunteers, the cups were collected from local food centers across Singapore. The collection process took about roughly a day and half. The cups were then cleaned off and  assembled to form a shiny crystal cave. They installed fairy lights throughout the cups to finish it off. The sculpture itself took around seven days to complete.

The picture above shows Max Pagel, one of the volunteers, dressed up as a scuba diver posing in the sculpture. The picture below shows contemporary dancer Jialin Neo posing  in the sculpture.  The sculpture is currently on display in the Sustainable Singapore galleries in the Marina Barrage.

The beauty of the sculpture attracts tourists to come take pictures with it while also spreading awareness on the dangers of single use plastic cups. The goal of the sculpture was to show how the plastic we consume on land can end eventually end up in the ocean. It’s crazy to think that all of the cups used in the sculpture were gathered in a day and a half, strictly from local food centers in Singapore. There needs to be more sustainable or reusable options. The term “Plastikophobia”, created by Von Wong,  has already started to gain popularity and is being used by local artists and photographers to start the conversation around the problem with plastics.

Making Art with Plastic Waste