EPISODE TWO November 2007
Opening Night Photos

Katie Allan

"Last Tango"

Pre-project statement: My biggest challenges with this project will be to own up to all the plastic I acquire on a daily basis and to commit to try to reduce that amount on a permanent basis. I started recycling plastic years ago, long before plastic grocery bags existed. My question is: after so many years, why am I inundated with so much more of the stuff, much of which I can’t seem to avoid?

As a basket maker, I look at everything as a potential weaving source. I have made baskets and other woven sculptures with natural materials like bark, pine needles kelp, and plants from my garden, but I truly enjoy finding alternative materials for my work. In the past year I have been using oil cloth remnants, duct tape, recycled paper and card board and, yes, recycled plastic! I enjoy the challenge of using these materials to create pieces of art, vessels and handbags that bring a laugh and that people actually might want to own.

I am a member of and serve on the board of the Columbia Basin Basketry Guild.

Post-project statement: I began having some strong emotions as my piles of plastic accumulated over these three months. I felt embarrassed to realize that, despite responsible recycling, the pile was huge. I felt angry and helpless because I can’t seem to avoid so much of this plastic. And then I realized that I could make a dent in a few ways and should concentrate on what I can do rather than what I can’t. I have made a few changes that will reduce my plastic consumption. And I hope to continue to make those changes. If we all do it, we can make big changes.

“It’s Never Just All Black and White” is a random woven vessel that is intended to illustrate both sides of the debate on our use of plastic. The vessel includes that package strapping that I often see in dumpsters because no one seems to have found another use for it. I layered in color from my bag of accumulated household plastic and from beads. But I also included oxygen tubing for the rim, a single use item that is there to remind us that, in some circumstances, plastic is not a bad thing and is, in fact, necessary and life saving.

“Last Tango” is a twined figure. She is an ocean goddess, with a core of bull kelp and NW coastal sea grass that grows in the tidelands at the coast and was and is still used by Native Americans in making baskets. Her chest and arms are twined plastic grocery bags, and her gown is made of plastic garbage bags. Her gown is embellished with handmade beads made from my bag of accumulated household plastic. She is the natural world, covered in a thin film of shiny, sparkly plastic, and dancing her last dance.

Cassie Cohn

Pre-project statement: As an artist, I have personal a need to be an activist in an unconventional way because traditional methods of activism challenge my sense of faith in a cause. Many traditional methods of activism, (ie signing a prewritten letter, marching one day, throwing money at something, etc.) require limited commitment and participation. Its hard to believe a message when there is no demonstration of the message being practiced or lived by the people speaking it. LNPB is the perfect challenge to exercise my artistic and activistic muscles.

Inspired by theme, I’ve worked with a variety of sculptural, graphic and video mediums. My biggest challenge will be conquering the plastic by turning into to art. I feel a bit like the miller’s daughter in Rumpelstiltskin when challenged to turn straw into gold. As plastic as already begun to accumulate in my home, I find myself starring at it, playing with it in an attempt to see what else it might become and it just keeps being cheap ugly potentially off-gassing plastic.
How-oh-how will I ever make it into ART?!

Post-project statement: As a consumer versus artist, I discovered a complex duality to plastic while participating in Episode II of LEAVE NO PLASTIC BEHIND.

As a consumer, plastic has a grotesque presence with its crinkling, dampness (from being washed) and short lifespan of use – compared to its lifespan of decomposition. Even more grotesque than its physical presence, is the psychological impact of the accumulating plastic. After all, if I – someone actively avoiding plastic – had collected six grocery bags worth in three months, imagine the accumulation of average consumers and the environmental damage (through production, disposal, and even recycling) that translates into.

Faced with the challenge of creating art, I was forced to find beauty in my light weight bundles of consumerism. Studying three months of collected material, I started making piles based on the characteristics of the various plastics: clear/whites (cookie/cereal/grocery bags, bubble wrap etc.), colored plastics (frozen veggie/cheese bags), silvery (Mylar type cookie/cracker/snack bags) and molded plastics (specific utensil packages, containers). I began to notice some positive characteristics of the plastic: durability, variation in color, texture variation and light play/reflection. I found the white clear plastics most appealing, probably for their simplicity and lack of labeling.

From there, the resulting work Untitled (Autumn), Untitled (Winter), Untitled (Summer), and Untitled (Spring) seemed to create themselves. Working on this project heightened my awareness of litter. Most of the discarded trash on the street is plastic. I see it everywhere I go, not just in the city, but in rural settings as well. Woven among the underbrush, I always see various plastic wrappers and Starbucks lids. (I’ve been tempted to collect liter, box it up, and send boxes of discarded single use containers back to their manufactures.) Litter sensitivity led me to explore the conflict of nature vs. man (-made material) in my pieces which is why each piece is composed of various organic materials, not just plastic.
Creating art out of something I was challenged not to accumulate was a tricky thing. There were constant balancing acts to perform. For example, in the construction of Cheryl’s pig wings, (See Cheryl Lohrmann’s Pig piece) I needed to use tape, but, of course, that means using NEW plastic (not to mention chemical adhesive), but the use of tape balances out not throwing out the two clam shells and several plastic bags used to make the wings. I am sad to report that the plastic used in my pieces accounts for about 1/6th of what I collected. I could have created more art, but more quantity would have resulted in less quality. Again, there is a constant balancing act.

To be honest, I can’t handle collecting any more plastic after this, but my plastic consciousness has been permanently altered. More than ever, I recognize that my strongest weapon against the evils of plastic (and other toxic materials) is my power as a consumer. I can use my purchasing power to avoid plastic products and production. By purchasing products made of natural materials, I’m encouraging manufacturing industry to be environmentally responsible through the language most understood to them: PROFIT.

"Portraits of my Loved Ones in a Medium that will Last Forever"

Vicky DeKrey

Pre-project statement: My artistic approach uses mixed media so that helps in this kind of project. It stretches me to incorporate new materials in my work. Since it is the second time around on the not buying plastic thing, I think I have a better idea of what to expect. Hopefully I will be a little better at it?

Post-project statement: For my plastics project I made portraits of my loved ones in a medium that will last forever. My "portraits" are done as "quilts" which seems fitting since the original quilts were made from what would have been thrown away. Old clothing was cut up and turned into something useful: blankets. This plastic is something that would have been thrown away but the paradox here is you wouldn't want to sleep under one of these. Even in reusing the plastic is nonfunctional and yet it will last hundreds or thousands of years.

Kasey Goltra

Pre-project statement: I anticipate my biggest challenge will be something that I have yet to consider; not prior to this project, not in the days preceding it. I look forward to the awareness that the project will bring. Doubtless this challenge is the thing with the potential to penetrate and change me. I anticipate, at times, being alternatively appalled and inspired.

My tack is to take this opportunity to examine, truly scrutinize my environment and be open to the light that inconvenience can shed. I want my environment to inspire me to understand how I have lived and how I can live. In creating a work I consciously try to subvert intended use and identity with new function pulled from objects that I find, repurpose, or divert from the trash.

Post-project statement:Living without single use plastic as part of this project was simultaneously enlightening and, at times, physically uncomfortable. I intend to continue with the reforms made to my daily life as a result of the near surgical awareness spawned by LNPB. Having previously considered myself conscious of my environment, this process has made me feel like a collaborationist in denial.

The first shower I attempted back in August took about twice as long as usual and required more attention and thought than I care to disclose. Everything required consideration.

Among aspects of daily life, food packaging was consistently a source of violation: organic any-and-everything transported from afar packaged in plastic, plastic bags in the organic produce section, plastic pulls on otherwise recyclable paper cartons, and wispy unrepurposeable food envelopes hidden in boxes.

The events of the past three months have compelled me to consider my immediate environment and what is required to make significant reductions in my plastic consumption. It has called into question the notion and role of convenience and that of being green.

Coordinated hats and bags woven out of plastic sacks

Mabel Johnson

Pre-project statement: I am a seamstress and very creative. I especially enjoy making hats, scarves, and purses. There is nothing I can't sew and I enjoy it all.

Post-project statement:I love doing my work and making things that are enticing to the eye. It was fun to continue to do what I love. That's my motive.

"Plastic is Unhealthy for Babies and Other Living Things"

Diane Kurzyna

Pre-project statement: As a visual artist using mixed recycled media, i struggle with the repulsion and attraction of disposable consumer items; I hate plastic, and yet, look how colorful and pretty and eye-catching it can be! Plastic is so convenient: it is light- weight, flexible and currently, still cheap. Even milk in glass bottles have a plastic lid, so it is almost impossible to avoid plastic completely. I bring my own bags to the grocery store, but what about the mall or gift shop or other stores? I want to be eco-conscious but not neurotic. So plastic really is an issue I wrestle with daily.

Post-project statement:This baby is handmade from re-purposed plastic bags, stuffed with used bubble wrap, held together by tape, and surrounded by all of the plastic lids that collected in my kitchen and studio over the past three months. It was almost impossible to avoid plastic! Even if I tried to bring bags to the grocery store, I didn't feel comfortable going into a department store with my own bag. And many things just don't come in glass these days. I felt bummed out, especially after reading Garbage Land (even though that is a great book and I enjoyed reading it). But babies represent joie de vivre (joy of life), and all that is precious and wonderful. While no babies were harmed during the creative process, the manufacturing of plastic is a harmful process that is unhealthy to babies and other living things. So please delight in this colorful baby, which was created as a reminder to reduce the amount of plastic used in daily life.

"Anything but the Trash Can II"

"Put a Lid On It"

Cheryl Lohrmann

Pre-project statement: This time I'm going to work on another Sid the Lid animation, so I am going to do some character work out of my salvaged plastic pile. When I'm done animating the characters I will retire them to a kind of cel—a freeze frame of the character in a scene from the animation, so it can hang on a wall. I'm also going to revisit a piece currently titled "Anything but the Trash Can" from Episode One. I continue to acquire plastic bits on a daily basis, sometimes because of rules & regulations from the FDA, sometimes because businesses want their logos visible, even if from the roadside. Some is self-inflicted; I've started to pick up straws and bottle caps on my daily bicycle commutes for certain craft projects I've taken up!

Post-project statement:These are contemplations on some imagined convictions espoused and conveyed from plastic salesperson to potential clients of the past 60 years. Are there still plastic salespeople, or does the material sell itself in a convenience-oriented world? The works also represent my instinct to purge a months-old plastic collection, promising myself that with a clean slate, I will make more patient (and smaller scale) art, including the second Sid the Lid movie.

Jessica Lyness

Pre-project statement:I joined Leave No Plastic Behind about a year ago and participated in the first episode. This experience has become a life changer for me. After I had educated myself about the disastrous effects of plastic on our environment, I made the choice to never turn back and so for me, my care free plastic days were numbered. I continue to avoid plastic on a daily basis. One article that really changed my paradigms about a year ago was an article in Harper's called Moby Duck: Or, the synthetic wilderness of childhood by Donovan Hohn. This article goes in length describes the plastics industry and marine pollution, and the story starts with a rubber toy duck. It is my goal this time around to create something completely unique from my last piece, which was a "Tiny City Made of Plastic".

Post-project statement:This episode brought me closer to understanding myself as an artist working with plastic. I successfully finished the piece "Transparent"
and in the process started two more pieces (which are not done) and designed a personal art space in my house to make room for art and plastic organization. In the future I would like to see businesses start to change their plastic production and use alternatives instead. Because at the end of three months, I still have collected A LOT of plastic! Reducing plastic in the world starts with a few but will
ultimately succeed with the help of business and community.


"Fertile Ground for Flamenco"

"Maiden, China"

Julie Mainwaring

Pre-project statement: I come from a traditional still-life painting background but have a great admiration for paintings that emphasize the picture plane. Lately I have been drawing fruiting plants and I imagine it will work into my piece.

I think my biggest challenge will be planning ahead, with bringing plastic bags (used) with me, so that when I spontaneously grocery shop, I'll be ready.

Working a pattern with used plastic is an inexpensive way to learn the craft of sewing! I began the dresses when I guiltily bought plastic bagged organic soil for my garden. The emptied bags sat on the front porch until weeks later when the idea for the flamenco dresses hit me.

It made me laugh to think of a party dress made of manure bags! Going forward with the plan had three points in its favor: 1) pleasing my neighbors by cleaning my front porch, 2) fulfilling my obligation to LNPB and 3) boosting my resolve to attack a sewing project as I have several patterns that I had never attempted to even start.

With more confidence, I began the second dress "Maiden, China". I thought of all the clothes and toys made in China as I worked on it. I checked out a book on Chinese knots from the library.

Lastly I made the carnival dress "Not Until Lent". I hoped to find and display lots of candy and meat wrappers. I thought of all the joyous consumption before Lent. Admittedly I joyfully hunted and petitioned friends for used plastic for this dress, each time feeling very excited to score something colorful or well worded.
I hope my dresses inspire adults and children to take a second look at their trash and see new and maybe even funny possibilities!

Kjerstin Rossi

Artist statement: I enjoy having restrictions in my creative proccess.
They push me to go places where I would not have otherwise ventured. Making something interesting and visually compelling solely out of my reduced plastic garbage is daunting. I will however, be using other people's plastic bags for one piece.

In Episode 2 I'm challenging myself to have the finished work
relate to its medium so that the piece relies on the properties of its medium(plastic) to work, rather than the medium being tangential to the success of the piece itself. My other challenge is to actually use all of the plastic I consume in my finished artworks. In Episode one I chose from my plastic refuse for aesthetic reasons. In Episode two I will leave no plastic behind!

Taylor Cass Stevenson

Pre-project statement: Inspired by South American reuse craft, I am primarily interested in functional works created with materials that are commonly discarded and hard to recycle. I am curious about the ways that reuse can be used to spark confidence and foment community in low income neighborhoods. Considering that some people do not have money for craft materials, I typically attempt to use 100% reused materials in my pieces. My work is almost never for sale, but rather, for inspiration or gift.

Post-project statement: Ironing plastic is a technique that I have been practicing for over a year now. After much experimentation, I have learned that #4 Low Density Polyethylene bags work best for ironing. I melt the bags between thin fabric and, though chemists have told me that the plastic must burn to emit toxic fumes, I always wear a face mask. Months of The Oregonian newspaper bags were salvaged to make this lamp, in addition to dead umbrellas and guitar strings. It is 100% reused materials.

Lydia Vasey - LNPB JUNIOR PARTICIPANT

Pre-project statement: Lydia likes to draw the most. She learned the first time around in lnpb#1 how bad plastic was and that is why she wants to do it again. Remembering not to get plastic is her biggest challenge.