Nathalie Rey

Shipwreck III (2018-2020) continues my investigation of the myriad ways that plastic waste has invaded our natural landscapes. As elsewhere, I find the tensions and juxtapositions of this issue intriguing. There is nothing inherently ugly in a plastic container, so why do we perceive it as so when we come across one in nature?

 In these videos, I probe this question by littering hundreds of multicolored cups in otherwise virgin landscapes. What results is, to me, a beautiful scene composed of the visual unification of a victimizer with its victim. Afterwards, I clean up the cups, erasing the signs of my transgression and returning the scene to its pristine state. Thus, this performance highlights in a personal way the problem of plastic waste, a reflection upon this problem, and a thoughtful act that solves it.