Video Essay & photography 2014
#700 PIECES
Upon reading a scientific article in PLOS ONE magazinethat concluded that the oceans now contain at least 700 floating pieces of plastic per person, Daniela Paes Leãodecided to take responsibility by collecting her own 700 pieces. This turned into the ‘#700PIECES’ project that deals with the causes and consequences of the plastic soup. The project also aims to stimulate changes in consumer behaviour: tackling the problem at its root.
The first stage of the ‘700PIECES’ poject was the development of a video essay. The film starts early in themorning in a small northern European city, where a woman still in her pyjamas boards her rowing boat. She sets out on a journey that will lead her from the city centre through a natural area and finally to the North Sea. While owing she picks pieces and bits of plastic out of the water. As we listen to her thoughts, she draws our attention to recent scientific studies into the poblem of plastic pollution in our world’s oceans and to the ways in which that problem is affecting us directly.
At a second stage, the artist made a selection from the 700 pieces of collected plastic to photograph them with a macro lens. In the pictures, which appear to us as alienating landscapes, it is visible that there are life forms present on the plastic. This is to emphasize the core idea of the project: nature can adapt and the planet will survive, as it always does, but we won’t. This is a premonition of what is to come if we don’t change our attitude towards climate change and waste.
Der Watzmann
Macro photography 141x1001cm
Helmingham Dell
Macro photography 48x38cm
The Blue Rigi Lake
Macro photography 141,1x100cm
Weymouth Bay
Macro photography 100x61.8cm
Norham Castle Sunrise
Macro photography 100x61,8cm
Steam Rain Velocity
Macro photography 35,28x24,94cm
Ophelia
Macro photography 20x20cm
The Ninth Wave
Macro photography 141x100cm
The video
Written by:
Music Composed by:
Featuring:
Narrated by:
Camera & Editing:
Sound Designer:
Underwater ambience:
Proofreader:
Producer:
Production Assistant:
Rowing Boat:
Special Thanks:
Daniela Paes Leão
Merel Willemsen
Susana Chiocca
Merel Willemsen
Marije Willemsen
Daniela Paes Leão
Susana Chiocca
Akemov
Debra Solomon
Irene den Hartoog
Tigo Kooreman
Nautical Advice
Suport Joar van Raalte
Edward Jellema
Anne Jellema, Adam & Boele
Based on:
Eriksen, Marcus et al. (2014, December 10). Plastic Pollution in the World's Oceans - PLOS ONE 9(12):e111913. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0111913 Jambeck,
Jenna R et al. (2015, February 13). Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean - Science 347, 768 - 771. DOI: 10.1126/science.1260352
Reference:
The Ocean Now Has At Least 600 Pieces Of Plastic Per Person On Earth by AMELIA ROSCH, Climate Progress, DEC 11, 2014
Study Gauges Plastic Levels in Oceans by JOHN SCHWARTZ, The New York Times, DEC. 10, 2014
8 Million Tons of Plastic Lands in the Ocean Every Year by PATRICK J. KIGER, Discovery News, FEB 12, 2015
8 Million Metric Tons of Plastic Dumped Into World’s Oceans Each Year by ANASTASIA PANTSIOS, EcoWatch, FEB 16, 2015
Eight Million Tons of Plastic Dumped in Ocean Every Year by LAURA PARKER, National Geographic, FEB 13, 2015
Nanoplastics gevaarlijker dan microplastics by INGRID ZEEGERS, Magazine Over de Zee, FEB 2, 2014