Sharon Lavigne, one of the six winners of the 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize, is fighting to protect her community from plastics corporations.
Pollution
Art installation made of 5 million bottle tops is a call for help against plastic pollution
Italian artist Maria Cristina Finucci created an art installation in the Island of San Pantaleo, Sicily, to raise awareness on the problem of plastic pollution in world’s oceans.
“Help”: seas and oceans around the world call for help to tackle the accumulation of plastic waste. It is one of the major issues threatening our planet. According to a recent study by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans, while research conducted in 2015 revealed that 90 percent of seabirds have plastic in their guts. In order to raise awareness on this environmental catastrophe Italian artist Maria Cristina Finucci has made an art installation called “Help, the Age of Plastic”.
5 million bottle tops to call for help
The installation by Maria Cristina Finucci, who already realised a piece called Garbage Patch State aimed to highlight concern over the issue, is made of 5 million recycled, brightly coloured bottle tops, enclosed in metallic structures spelling the word “Help”. The artwork is 1,500 square metres and is located in the city Mozia, on the island of San Pantaleo, Sicily. It was opened on 24 September and will remain open until 8 January 2017. The piece can be entirely seen by flying over it by night, since it is lit with LED lights.
Raising awareness on plastic pollution
“Help, the Age of Plastic” is clearly aimed to raise awareness on the major issue of marine pollution. The installation is part of a project entitled Wasteland by Maria Cristina Finucci.
Plastic islands
Through her work, the Italian artist wants to remember the existence of expanding plastic islands in world’s oceans. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA, has estimated that these gigantic, patches might cover as much as 16 million square kilometers. “When I first read about this phenomenon I felt a strong compulsion to do something about it – Finucci said – I wanted to raise some sort of an image and outcry that would capture the sheer scale of this environmental disaster”.
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