Plastic Bag Exploration
I looked at all the plastics bags that where planning up in my house from ordering clothes online during the lockdown, them sitting there and waiting for me to find them a second life. I wanted to use as found materials within my project and explore their artist qualities. This started with me looking at how I can maybe transfer an image onto the surface of the bag, to visually work with contrasting images like nature on plastic bags and maybe even vive versa.
Using a photo transfer gel to transfer images I took off trees, I attempted this process without any expectations as I knew it might react different from the plastic. This in fact did happen; when I tried to rub away the paper for the image to transfer without all the paper, it all started to coming off straight away so I decided that leaving the images as is the best option. I then cut away a layer of the plastics bags and turned them inside out to be bake to see the images right side up. I explored showing this on a tree trunk as well as inside the house. The in side exploration included the use of a project to show a video of fast moving trees.
Photos of transferred image on plastic bags – some photos with the projector exploration too!!
I moved onto looking at the bag itself and how using it to hold stuff that it wasn’t meant for might transform it. I used red glitter that gave it a flashy and decorative feel, capturing something thats easily binned in a state similar to treasure. I documented this with photos, thinking that the PVA I used created interesting folds that held their shape unlike the usual flimsiness.
Next I also looked at the bag as a material to transform with the help of natural found material; soil, stones, branches. I used the bag to hold the natural materials and visually create a prison like space for them. I think these where successful in conveying the stark compensation of materials that I wanted to highlight with my work.
I used more found material in the bags – anything I could find in my garden. I hanged the bags from a fence to see how it would transform the relation as the bag suddenly help something many would consider as trash from the garden.
Here are the close studies of how the plastic and nature behaved when put together.
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