Resurrected by Brooklyn-based architecture and design firm, STUDIOKCA, a 38-foot-tall whale made with over five tons of plastic now rests in a city center as a response to Bruges Triennial’s 2018 theme “Liquid City.” Moved by the shear amount of plastic currently infiltrating both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, STUDIOKCA pulled 5 TONS of plastic out of the ocean to build a 4 story tall whale, calling attention to the other 150 million tons of plastic waste still out there. As one team member of the project puts it,
Right now there is 150 million tons of plastic swimming in the ocean, our oceans, the oceans we share… Pound for pound that is more plastic waste swimming in the ocean than there are whales. So an opportunity like this to show the type of plastic and the amount of plastic that ends up in our oceans is really important.
In partnership with the Hawaii Wildlife Fund, STUDIOKCA coordinated several beach clean-ups in order to source most of the plastic for the 10,000-pound whale. Although a small impact on the global plastic population, the result is “living” proof for the power of artistic creation.