I was so touched watching this ecological crochet activism video:
Artist Annie Hsiao-Wen Wang was impacted by her own travel experience. In Thailand she saw how plastic pollution was destroying the environment, and she decided to do something about it. “The plastic sea turtle was made in the hope that it will bring attention to the issues sea turtles and other sea life endure every day as we continue to pollute our oceans with plastics and much much more.” More than 50% of the world’s sea turtles have ingested plastic, leading to malnutrition and potential death. This project raises awareness about the way that our disposable plastic culture is harming the world.
The artist used “recycled plastic bags and bottles from domestic and industrial waste” to create plarn that she crocheted into this large beautiful sea turtle. She elaborates on her website:
“Remnant was a 2-year project inspired by my time in Thailand. It is a 4-meter giant sea turtle sculpture that weighs almost 200 kgs. The entire shell is crocheted from waste plastic bags collected from factories, and it is stuffed with plastic bags and water bottles collected from domestic and commercial waste. This work explores the world’s environmental issues and questions our current disposable culture and consumption habits.”
Learn more about this turtle project.
The project is called Remnant but the turtle has his own name: Poly. Poly debuted in Taiwan in November 2016. He became so popular that he has started touring the world to raise awareness. He is currently showing in Taipei, which is where the artist was born. Follow Poly’s tour schedule here. Poly’s tour is part of One Brown Planet, co-founded by Annie. The organization is based on respecting yourself, others and the planet and taking responsible action to create a more sustainable planet. They say:
“By raising awareness of environmental issues and by offering alternative products and practices, we hope to reduce the impact we all have on the world.“
Annie has run workshops advocating the use of beeswax wraps as one plastic alternative. The description for one of these workshops explains:
“Beeswax wraps are a natural alternative to plastic wrap for food storage. Made from 100% cotton , beeswax and coconut oil, these wraps are reusable for up to 1 year with proper care. Using these reusable bees wax wraps saves space in your fridge and reduces your need to use disposable plastic bags and containers. So say goodbye to yucky plastics in contact with your food! Beeswax are also edible so you can feel safe wrapping your food in it. If you need to dispose of them, no problem because they are 100% biodegradable and can be composted or used as kindling for your fireplace.“
Annie is an artist working primarily in the medium of painting. Her Facebook profile says, in part,
“Wang draws inspiration from an array of philosophies from Kandinsky, Buddhist meditation, and Chinese calligraphy and is interested in using paint to capture the intangible, the transcendental and the emotive; evoking a spiritual stillness that embraces the viewer in a contemplative moment.
In her photographic works she is interested in issues of cultural identity in this current globalised world, and exploring a silent beauty in what often seems banal or profane at a first glance. It is this tension between the beautiful and obscene which drives her work, aiming to challenge traditional concepts of what is desirable or attractive.“
Annie designed the crochet turtle pattern and has made it available for sale on Ravelry. The instructions. The design is for a turtle made using chunky yarn, but of course you could adapt it and make yours out of plarn as well. The pattern is designed as pillow-sized, not the big size of the turtle art piece.