Installation finds ingenious ways to recycle plastic bags

Kiwis use more than a billion plastic bags every year. Not only are they a needless use of precious fossil fuels, but they also end up in landfills, as litter in the environment, and can kill wildlife if ingested. Sentimental Plastics - an installation by new media artists Rob Appierdo and Morgan Barnard - explores how people use plastic bags in the urban environment and, through workshops and other activities, offers creative solutions for re-purposing plastic bags to create a more sustainable future.The project will be run out of a shipping container on Wellington's Courtenay Place. From 8-26 September, artists and volunteers will be on-site creating fused plastic material from plastic shopping bags. Bins for collecting plastic bags will be placed at the container site in lower Courtney Place, Victoria University School of Design and the Art Centre.

During IntensCITY Week (27 Sep-5 Oct), workshops will be held where people can make items from the new plastic bag materials, including courier bags, wallets and jackets.

Live video mixes of the gathered material will be created inside the container and projected onto screens made from recycled plastic bag material. There will also be two live VJ performances during the week.

The organisers are looking for volunteers and donations of used plastic shopping bags.

12/9/07