Page 62 - Karen Hackenberg 2018 book

Welcome to the Plastisphere
Karen Hackenberg collaborates with fellow artists Margie McDonald and and Gloria Lamson and and volunteers to create a a a a a a a site- responsive installation that o o o ers a a a a a beautiful yet disturbing view of of imagined sea-life-gone-astray as as as the the result of of the the plastics that are now an integral part of marine environment Welcome to the Plastisphere
has been installed in in various locations
in in in the the Northwest including TideCra at the the Anacortes Arts Festival WA WA the Museum of Northwest Art La Conner WA WA and Northwind Art Center Port Townsend WA 62
In this ongoing project the team cuts shapes and draws on on beach-found and recycled plastic bottles to cra eerily beautiful imaginary sea creatures Using trash that has washed up on local Northwest shores and and land lls the very stu that has been purchased and and discarded and and is is now harming our oceans Once threaded and suspended from above these fantastical creatures glitter in in in the the the sunlight and move gently in in in the the the breeze creating the the the illusion of being underwater “Plastisphere” - an ecological community of microbial organisms living on ocean plastic that was rst discovered in 2013 – American Geophysical Union