Polluted Waters

Preface

My name is Rebecca Dasilva and the title of my Portfolio is Polluted Waters. I’m using CC-BY license to publish my work.

Introduction

My Portfolio is about the environmental artist Alejandro Durán. Durán collects trash that washes up ashore on Sian Ka’an Mexico. Not only is he helping to clean the beach in Mexico but he’s taking the trash he collected and he uses them to create aesthetic artworks. He separates the trash by colors and organizes them on the beach so he can take these these very beautiful photos that are eye-catching. By doing this he is raising awareness about plastic pollution which has been an ongoing environmental issue. 

The pictures I will be using are from his “Washed Up” project which is the photo series he does with the plastic collected. The purpose of his project is to hopefully get peoples attentions that don’t understand how huge the damage of plastic pollution is to our oceans.

Themes

Durán’s artwork exhibits two themes: creativeness and difference. The way that Durán brings awareness of plastic pollution is so creative. He could just collect the trash and throw it away but no he takes the time to separate each piece by color and organizes them to make these visually pleasing photos. By making these beautiful artworks, he is able to capture everyones attention and help us see the deeper meaning behind these photos. 

His artwork is different from other peoples approaches to expose plastic pollution. Instead of trying to show people photos of the ugly side of plastic pollution he takes the plastic to make beautiful photos. Showing the negative side can be upsetting to people which can cause them to not want to learn more about the pollution. I love that Durán had a different perspective on the issue which showed everyone these stunning photos, raising more awareness on the matter. Durán’s artwork really helps people to understand how big of a problem plastic pollution is. 

Analysis 

When Durán first visited Sian Ka’an in 2010 he took this picture which inspired him to come back and do a whole series on plastic pollution. He noticed that there was so much plastic and he saw the opportunity he had to take these images and spread awareness of plastic pollution. This  image became the blueprint to his series “Washed Up”.

Three years later, in 2013, he created this upgraded version of his first photo. All the plastic he collected for his series has not be tampered with. Durán makes it clear that he does not paint the plastic, he uses them as they come. Almost 10 years later, Durán was still working on this  project to continue to bring awareness.

In Durán latest project he has brought his photos to life. The photo down below on the left is currently at an exhibit in Frankfurt, Germany. I think it’s so cool how he breaks the two-dimensional plane with this new series. As you can see all these photos used blue plastic, as Durán explained in his TED talk, blue is the most common color found among plastics and purple is the most rare color to find. Below is another photo from this series but this time with red plastic. 

Here are a few more photos from Durán’s series “Washed Up” that really stood out to me.

Application

The reason why I picked Alejandro Durán is because he was the environmental artist that stood out to me the most. I love the way that he spreads awareness of plastic pollution, it’s so different from what I’ve seen before. Creating these beautiful artworks with the plastic he collects is such an amazing idea. It really catches the viewers attention and leave you wanting to learn more about this issue. Not only are they these aesthetically pleasing photos but at the same time it made me feel guilty. There’s so many things that us humans could do to help our planet. I feel a lot of us take plastic for granted and think we’re not doing any harm but the truth is we are doing a lot of harm to our planet, to the animals in the ocean, etc. These photos opened my eyes to how huge of a problem plastic pollution is. It amazes me to see how he was able to turn trash washed up on shore into art. These photos were able to convey a deeper meaning about what’s going on in our environment. I hope more people will find out about Durán’s work and will start to take this issue more seriously, I know I will.

Sources

How I use art to tackle plastic pollution in our oceans | Alejandro Durán. (2020). YouTube.

(2023). “Washed up Photo Series.” Alejandro Durán. https://alejandroduran.com/washedupphotoseries

(2023). “Exhibition Highlights.” Alejandro Durán. https://alejandroduran.com/exhibitionhighlights