Last year, we received an invitation to present a project at the Lichtparcours 2024 festival in the German city of Brunswick. It seemed like the ideal setting to develop a piece we envisioned in 2019: (Plastic) Full Moon. Fortunately, the idea appealed to the festival jury, and last June we were finally able to see it materialize.
The piece is based on an assumption that is not so far-fetched: a not-too-distant future in which the inhabitants of Earth look up at the sky and see a different moon. It will no longer be the silver, mysterious sphere that has inspired myths and legends for centuries, but a new celestial body that shines with a dull, multicolored glow, formed by countless fragments of plastic.
For decades, oceans, rivers, and landscapes have been filled with plastic waste, a consequence of excessive consumer culture and a lack of environmental awareness. The crisis has reached such a point that if we don’t stop soon, we may be forced to send the excess plastic into space.
This piece is intended to serve as a luminous reminder of the mistakes we are making. Each night, when looking at this strange spherical artifact, hanging from a massive construction crane, reflecting in the waters of a beautiful lake, the city’s inhabitants will be able to reflect on the importance of living sustainably and respecting the environment. It is thus a luminous warning urging us to change our habits before it is too late.
To carry it out, thousands of pieces of recycled plastics were assembled, forming a large spherical structure made with metal segments. The plastics were donated by the community, and the pieces were sewn together one by one by volunteers, who dedicated much time and effort to cover this immense surface.
Supported by the large crane, which is also part of the piece, its surface reveals the remnants of bottles, bags, toys, and containers, amalgamated into a tapestry that tells the consumption history of a community that, on the other hand, is very careful about recycling its plastic waste.
Every evening, the sight of this strange moon over the lake invites one to think that true progress lies in harmony with nature and in the responsibility of caring for the only home we have: Earth.
Pictures: Melisa Hernandez and Lichtparcours Festival.
