Artist Luisa Hanika

Berlin, Germany I 2016

"Everyone is aware of them: the pictures of plastic waste covering the entire coasts of our oceans. A chaos that has become a symbol of self-inflicted pollution. With „Plastiken“ (Plastics), I have dealt extensively with the material plastic and the environmental pollution, intending to promote a new and sustainable awareness of environment and consumption, as well as to give new causes for thoughts.

For the first phase of the project I collected coloured plastic rubbish in my private and public environment over a period of six months. Following the collection process, in the second phase I sorted the plastic according to colour and removed all existing labels, stickers and coarser dirt. In the third and final phase, I then arranged and photographed the garbage together with animals in still lifes. The shown animals and their habitats are threatened by the garbage and its small parts. The animals - made of plastic - I painted in the standard plastic colours." - Luisa Hanika