HUGE RING
Huge Ring conveys a dual-message: on one hand, the giant ring made of plastic wastes is an authentic presentation of the marine plastic issue. Plastics, a result of modern civilization, has endangered the lives of countless creatures when they float in the ocean currents, forming garbage patches. The reflection in the mirror of the work also serves as a visual metaphor, symbolizing the epitome of the consumption era and the throw-away culture, and roaring ruthlessly towards the global ecology. On the other hand, the whole process of the creation of Huge Ring shows a virtuous cycle of plastics use: from the beginning of the collecting of plastic products, to the creation of the installation (Reuse). After the exhibition, the installation will disintegrate and its materials will enter the recycling cycle (instead of being discarded completely into the environment.)
Documentary of Huge Ring
DIMENSIONS:17M IN DIAMETER
MATERIALS: MORE THAN 20000 PIECES OF PLASTIC WASTES, STEEL STRUCTURE, MIRROR STAINLESS STEEL BOARD, OPTICAL FIBER
When I recycled more than 20,000 pieces of plastic wastes from 5,000 families, every child from these families was required to fill out a card that contained the basic information about these plastic wastes and their feeling about the global issues. Through such interactions, our next generation and their parents are better aware that they have made too much plastic waste in their daily lives, and most are disposables. Moreover, these 5000 cards are also the most real and moving part of the whole work and touch a lot of people.
With 300 volunteers, I worked out the Huge Ring, an installation with a diameter of 17 meters, such localized creation would give the public more exposure to the concept of sustainability.
Exhibition history
YangHu WetLand, Hunan, China, 2021
Plastic Era, Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, Shanghai, China, 2019
©2022 by Alex Long Yuan