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A toxic material is populating trash receptacles everywhere. Every plastic bottle ever made still exists today, posing a serious threat to our bodies, land and watershed. Billions of gallons of oil have been used in their production, fueling destruction and war. Mobilizing against this threat, 16 students and 2 instructors set out to spark a wider environmental discourse about waste, labor, consumerism, violence, transportation and energy.

This group of artist technicians created a sculptural intervention by upcycling 1,500 plastic bottles; reclaiming them as beautiful instead of leaving them to be buried in landfills or dumped in the ocean. The bottles were sandblasted and bound into a hexagonal grid that curves across the interior of the Hampshire College bus shelter. The organic forms that emerge are both perplexing and hauntingly beautiful. The sound of dripping water echoes through the space while warm, solar-powered LED light illuminates re-purposed skateboard benches. Text windingacross the windows guides viewers towards a wavering black and white monitor where the technicians’ labor and the process of creation are revealed.

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