Last week I presented for just 1.5 hours my pop-up show “Gift card, anybody?”. I was blessed with great weather and some visitors who took their time to see the small installments. I was really glad to see that there were more strangers, who after noticing the frames on the trees, came to see what they were about.
On Saturday I left all 10 pieces out in public for people to find as part of the art abandonment movement and do whatever they please. If you find one of the pieces, please take a look at the work and the accompanying text and share a photo of your experience. If you find one and want to take it home, please check the other side of the work and see if you would like to contribute some from your kindness.
The idea of this show and public exhibition is to draw attention to how deep plastic has melted into our lives. It surrounds us actually everywhere, every step of our life, ever since we wake up, go to the washroom, prepare our breakfast, travel to work, at the office and restaurant, public transportation etc. You may want to count all the plastic items you touch during one day and you will be surprised.
Okay, so what’s the big deal? The big deal is that plastic is here to stay forever. It is harmful to us and all wildlife, especially waterways and oceans. Yes, we can skip the plastic straws, but this is not the solution, as big companies will produce again and again more and more plastic, such as all the packaging, fishing nets, which all our oceans are full of, containers, etc…yeah, this list can go on forever. And yet here I am making the fuzz about gift cards. Just small pieces of plastic, right? But the amount of these created every year is mind-blowing. According to the International Card Manufacturers Association, nearly 17 billion plastic cards were produced in 2006. And 10 billion new gift cards are created every year. Now think of all the pens, all the combs, all the peanut butter jars, all coffee cups and lids, you can go on forever….
I used the gift cards that nobody wanted to buy to create these collages, as a way to attract people’s attention, stop and think about how much plastic there is and perhaps take steps to change the present. We as customers have a say, the more of us say something, the more changes will appear.
Just take a moment to think about it.
All materials used in this exhibition were salvaged, received for free, donated etc. Since 2017 I have been trying to create shows using already existing materials, meaning that I am not spending any money to buy new items. If to except for my recent exhibition which can be viewed on the outside windows of the Estonian House on 958 Broadview Ave until the 31st of October, which also marks the end of the Estonian House in Toronto, I have managed quite well.
Thank you to everybody who came along and made this a memorable evening.
