Concentration #4

Artist Statement

Lucas the Lobster

All I had to start this project was a bag of beach trash. A couple of my friends and I did a beach clean up a while back for Earth Club and we filled 3 big trash bags. I kept a little in the hopes of using it for my project. The trash I kept was mostly fishing stuff like lobster traps, bait, nets, and something that looked like colorful tags. I cut up the orange lobster net into strips, rolled them up, folded them, and used thin wire to tie pieces together. The wire looks a little messy because I had to cross lots of pieces and fold things over. I used yellow nets to make the arms of the claws and wrapped wire around it to keep it together. I cut and drilled holes into the colorful plastic tags and attached them to the body by putting the wire through the hole. The last and hardest part was the claws. I made a frame out of thicker wire and then used copper wire to wrap around the frame. The part that took the longest was stripping the wire to expose the copper; I had to use tools to take the plastic off and it hurt my hand a lot but it was worth it because the color is really pretty.

Since Lucas is made out of plastic I found at the beach I think it's a good symbol of how trash impacts our planet. I found enough to make a sculpture out of and we found even more. Although the fishing net and trash I found was probably left at the beach or in the water by accident, it still managed to stick around. By looking at the trash, you can't tell how long its been there but I know that plastic doesn't ever really disappear. I think the biggest issue about plastic is the quantity that we use it at; so many things are made out of plastic or packaged in plastic that it is a normalized part of our day. Every small thing we do to reduce our plastic waste is helpful and maybe if everyone started making art out of it we'd have a lot less in our oceans. Overall, I like how my project turned out and I'm glad I stuck with making a lobster. I like the claws and the tail the most.