Summersea
Sutira Laokittiphanit
Plastic Funeral
Today we gather here to honor the life of plastic. It was a truly amazing achievement, one of the greatest materials made. We cannot imagine how the world would be if plastic did not exist. Plastic was born in 1907. It was a child of a great Belgian chemist and marketeer Leo Baekeland. In more than 100 years that it has lived, I can honestly say that we cannot live without plastic. Plastic has been a big part of our lives. It was in almost everything around us, including ourselves. It dedicated its life to saving our lives: through the production of medical devices, sanitized packaging, most technological devices, and so many others products. However, it is time to say goodbye. In the present, we now stand here in the realization of how much plastic has destroyed our lives and our planet. It is like a toxic relationship that we ought to get out of. And there is no efficient solution for this. We are now mourning the earth, the air, oceans, and rivers filled with plastic debris. We are mourning the fish, animals, plants, and ourselves who consumed microplastics. Then again, it is hard to imagine a world without plastic. We are not required to ban plastic entirely, but reducing its use is already helpful. If we all help each other we can start with little things like stopping using single use plastic, and hope that one day we will find an alternative or a solution for us to live happily with plastic again
After finding the interconnection of food chain and plastic waste I research about the recycling process of a plastic company to find that the process is still harmful in someway and is not 100%
There are no easy way that we can deal with single use plastic, and if we can do so, there will still be consequences in some way
This is an event, a funeral, for people to be able to mourn for single-use plastic, to be thankful for all its help, and to raise awareness for its destruction. There is no way we can live without plastic, but with this awareness, we can use it more carefully.
The funeral ceremony starts at night. Firstly people will gather around the chandelier. A eulogy for plastic will be spoken. Then a movie about the life of plastic will play. People will then stand up in silence for a minute to pay respect. Lastly, the chandelier will lit, portraying the process of cremation.
During the day of the event, visitors can interact with the installation by using plastic to decorate the plastic chandelier, each of the actions portrays actions in a funeral.
The event is planned with long-term preparation and consequences. Starting from subtly giving education about plastic to the market visitors and ending with less use of single-use plastic and a landmark for the market with a yearly commemoration event.
Here is the story plastic, the history since it was born, the help and the destruction in creates for humankind.
