How often do we think about how our daily actions contaminate the bodies of water around us as a result of our activities? From the plastic bags that we use every day to industrial pollution from clothing factories, much of this waste ends up in our water system.

In this theme, we analyze the impacts that plastics are having on Earth’s oceans, and ultimately the well-being of human and sea-life. We encourage viewers to recognize how our casual, everyday use of plastic contributes to the pollution of the ocean and how this is ultimately life-threatening to marine life, ourselves, and our planet. By rethinking about the many careless ways we use plastics every day and the impact this has on our oceans we can also reclaim the ways that water provided a multitude of precious, life-giving resources.

The use of plastic bags has become ever so common in our everyday lives. From grocery shopping, retail purchases, and receptacles for carry-out containers, plastic bags have become one of the most “convenient” inventions within our society. Everyone has a drawer that is shoved full of these bags, that we casually re-use as garbage liners or to protect items for transport. Though many stores encourage the use of recyclable bags, how many of us forget to bring these with us, or just want the ease and conveniences of that plastic bag?

This artwork by Analia Saban allows us to reflect on the ways that we use the ubiquitous plastic bag. Using the medium of art, viewers can creatively rethink about their own excessive use of plastic bags and the ways that it impacts society as a whole and the negative impacts that it has on the livelihood of our planet.

Saban’s series of plastic bags furthers the artist’s career-long exploration into the physical qualities of common materials. Each bag conveys different designs and slogans, which have become ubiquitous emblems of the standardized bodega bag. Tinged with humor and irony, this series of “plastic” bags, printed in high relief on handmade cotton paper, continues to play upon Saban’s manipulation of material, while elevating the disposable into the realm of fine art. Saban’s decision to depict plastic bags also speaks to their quiet symbolism in America’s consumer culture, and art’s place within this economy. For her, the bags “symbolize business and trade, and of course, art is part of that dialogue.” The designs, which include slogans such as “Thank You for Shopping Here”, “Have A Nice Day,” and “Gracias,” as well as instructions about safety and recycling, are all readily available from wholesale plastic bag distributors around the world. Framing each of the three plastic bags separately helps emphasize the individual yet collective impact that plastic bags have on not only our environment, but also our creative intuition.

What if we could reclaim the ocean’s plastic pollution problem and turn it into something positive? We invite viewers to think about how artist KT Goodge considers reclaiming trash and plastic bag waste. By weaving together discarded paper and plastic grocery bags into a swimsuit, we might consider the intentionally of how plastic bags are "introduced into the ocean" —here by way of a swimsuit-- in contrast to the thoughtless, harmful ways plastic bags usually end up as ocean garbage.

Additionally, as a result of the plastic waste that has accumulated in the oceans, ecologists are currently looking at the ways that jellyfish mucus can safely adhere and extract plastic particles from the ocean. Non-profits like “GoJelly, have recently been examining the untapped properties of jellyfish mucus and how they might help to clean up our planet’s water."