EXHIBITION

#03
Plastic OceanNovember.2021

It is said that there will be more plastic waste than the amount of fish in the oceans in 2050. It is said that we are eating as much plastic as a credit card a week.

In July 2020, Japanese government started charging for plastic bags, finally.
At that time, I heard a lot of negative comments from the media and people around me, such as "It's just a performance to make us feel like the government is doing something", "What's the point?", "Reducing the number of plastic bags won't make any difference", "How do you balance this kind of environmental action with the economy?” blah blah blah...

I think it's totally fine. Performance? Fine. Superficial? Fine. Whatever it is, such discussion is meaningful. It is meaningful that it made us think, even for a moment, whether it is meaningful. Even if you break down the argument with rationality, billions of plastic wastes that are polluting the beautiful ocean and sparkling sandy beaches in front of our eyes will not disappear. It won't save the seabirds and fish that are dying from eating plastic, or the sea turtles and fur seals that get tangled in nets and can't move.

If we can't change those situations by charging for plastic bags, how can we change it? If such performance can make us think about it, then no performance can be more meaningful. It’s us who can create our own meaning.

Tomoyuki Washio, Hikaru Matsubara, Don Mak (Hong Kong), and Chou Yi (Taiwan) will participate in Exhibition #03 “Plastic Ocean” which is based on the concept of ocean pollution with plastic.

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