We upcycled all the debris collected at the Venice Beach clean-up on March 16. With a little imagination, humor and irony, a school of fish came to life. Some were inspired by the scary angler, spiky puffer, silly clown fish; others were inspired by textures, colors, shapes of the trash items. We hope our creations will raise some questions while they make you smile.(All the fish collages are pasted on white acrylic boards rescued from various plastic store discards, headed for landfill.)
Our fish will be swimming at the Santa Monica Aquarium walls for the month May 2014.
MY INNER FISH
Marina DeBris is the name used by a California artist whose work focuses on reusing trash to raise awareness of beach pollution. DeBris uses trash washed up from the beach to create trashion, 'fish tanks', decorative art and other works of art. She uses creativity, a little humor and irony to show that the waste we create keeps coming back to haunt us and encourages the viewer to question the use of single use items, consider ways to reduce waste.DeBris also is a fund raiser for environmental organizations and collaborates with non-profit organizations to educate kids about ocean pollution.
ON MARCH 16 ON A COLD SUNDAY MORNING BICYCLE ARTIST VOLUNTEERED WITH 715 PEOPLE FROM THE COMMUNITY AND PICKED UP 371 POUNDS OF TRASH FROM VENICE BEACH, CA.
NICOTINE AKA "NICO"
POST CLEAN UP / QUESTIONS FOR THE KIDS
DO YOU SEE REPETITIVE TYPES OF TRASH?
Plastic, cigarettes, bottle caps, straws, candy wrappers.
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE FOR THEM TO GET THERE?
1 week, 2-3 years, 30 days, 4 seconds, 1 hour, 3 months, 5 decades, 500 decades...
WHERE DOES THE TRASH COME FROM?
Storm drains, people. People throw them on the ground, they are too lazy to put them in the trash. Maybe they
don't know where the trash cans are. Mean companies that are producing lots of plastic waste, carelessly. Seagulls
take them from the other side of the world, like China. Cargo ships.
HOW DOES THE FISH FEEL ABOUT THE TRASH?
They feel bad when people litter. Fish get sick. Sad. Sharks, jellyfish & octopuses don't want to die. They get dizzy with all the trash falling down.
HOW DO YOU THINK THE TRASH IS EFFECTING THE LIFE OF THE FISH?
They can swallow the trash and die. Turtles can eat plastic bags thinking they are jelly fish and choke. All sea animals can eat the pieces and die. Some sharp plastics can cut them. Fish can get caught in trash. Some trash can be poisonous. The sharks can get splinters from metal.
POST WORKSHOP / QUESTIONS FOR THE GROUP
A MEMORY FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD ABOUT THE BEACH/OCEAN THAT YOU CANNOT SHARE WITH YOUR KIDS ANYMORE?
I used to catch shrimp with my bare hands on a beach in Turkey. The ocean was a lot cleaner, now I sometimes get skin allergies after swimming. Beaches used to be calmer with less screaming seagulls, fighting for trash. The ocean doesn’t feel safe anymore with all the pollution. I used to stare down the deep, clear seas and watch various species of fish go about their life. I used to snorkel with my dad , the ocean was our aquarium.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP/SLOW DOWN MARINE POLUTION?
Ban plastic bags. Volunteer to clean the beaches. Put signs on trash cans, “Put Your Trash Here!”. Build a huge machine that would squish all the plastic into a puffy cloud and drift away. Produce, buy and use less plastic. Try to tell more people about the pollution.