Comments on: Trashtastic Tuesday with Kim Holleman

By: Garbage Collectors Scott Webel / Museum of Ephemerata | Flow

Garbage Collectors Scott Webel / Museum of Ephemerata | Flow — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 05:06:03 +0000

[...] “Toxic Reef” is a coral reef collaboratively crocheted out of plastic bags. Kim Holleman’s “Trashnami!” assembles the gyre as a wave crashing down on us. Chris Jordan’s photo series “Midway” [...]

By: everydaytrash

everydaytrash — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:23:56 +0000

Thanks for the comment and the link to your site, Jon!

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:53:56 +0000

Hi Kim,
I had the same thoughts as Amy when reading this article. I guess your response makes sense… but the giving money to buy new bags when there are so many leftover (a trashnami worth, if you will) kind of gets to me. I think that it would have been in the best spirit of the project to acquire all bags after a first use, saving them from the trash. Using biodegradable bags doesn’t exactly justify it either, they take about the same about of natural resources and energy to product as normal plastic bags, and doesn’t exactly promote the ‘reuse’ alternative which is far and away better.

That aside, TRASHNAMI! is a great and fun way to create awareness, and a nice piece of art. Thanks!

By: everydaytrash

everydaytrash — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:09:13 +0000

Thanks Amy and Kim for this interesting exchange!

By: Kim Holleman

Kim Holleman — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:01:49 +0000

Hi Amy:
actually all the plastic made in the world will never disintegrate, ever. By putting these bags into my work, I am saving them from the trash dump. That piece will never die, but will be “recycled” artistically until I die. The ones I bought are also the only biodegradable bags in the piece, unlike the other “collected” bags which are not.

The bags I handed out are biodegradable, from recycled bags and contain upon them a sticker reminding people about all these issues and were made as “art objects”, so will not be thrown away. Those that took them, folded them neatly and placed them in bags as pieces of art to take home and put on walls, etc.

By making precious these trash bags, I am inverting our usual association with them. Also, you, Amy, and all of us, do things in contradiction to our beliefs, but as long as we are all pulling and contributing what we can, we are doing the right thing, even if we drive a car once in a while or use a toxic substance known to us, to make a piece of art that generates this type of discussion.

So, thank you for your comment. Hope that gives you more food for thought.
Check out my website to familiarize further with this type of art.
Kimholleman.com

Kim

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:59:37 +0000

Forgive my ignorance of her body of work, I came upon these pictures during a search for images of the Great Pacific Garbage Island. However, in my brief review of her installation art, I was stopped in my tracks by her comments on how she created the wave of plastic bags: “For TRASHNAMI!, I actually added in blues and greens that were purchased with money budgeted for the show. I also created stickers for the left over bags and handed them out as freebees.”

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t she actually contributing to the problem by buying bags (even if they have recycled content)? I thought her whole theme was to enlighten people about the way we handle our trash. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

By: Carnival of the Green « everydaytrash

Carnival of the Green « everydaytrash — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:26:56 +0000

[...] And here at everydaytrash, Leila talks to Kim Holleman about art, politics and the definition of “TRASHNAMI“. [...]