Dr Gardner is currently undertaking a research project studying the creation and use of waste-modified landscapes. Dr Gardner introduced methods and practices of contemporary archeology and their links to art. It is not uncommon to see artists who transform waste into art, but Dr Gardner’s research is interdisciplinary, combining the research of art and archaeology, which is novel to me. I didn’t understnd the definition of feral entity very well before, and I thought feral entity must have a negative impact on the environment. Dr Gardner’s presentation showed that feral entity can also be a positive side, which also made me more clear about the research direction I am looking for.

Feral entity

I used the surrounding environment where I lived as a site for fieldwork, the Deaconess Garden and the nearby streets. I observed these areas and found that there is a lot of rubbish, mostly plastic waste, which nobody picks them up and has always existed in the same place. I originally planned to choose plastics as feral entity of my research, but I found that large plastics do not seem to pose a serious environmental hazard, and animals and birds do not accidentally ingest them. However, when plastics turn into microplastics, they gone feral. Microplastics are caused by the wear and tear of plastic items after use. Tiny fragments from larger or whole plastic items, including hard plastic (such as bottles, containers, etc.) or soft plastic (such as wrappers, bags, etc.) Since the impact of microplastics is mostly concentrated in sea areas, I changed the feral entity to microplastics in the ocean.