Exhausted
In Venezuela there are no effective recycling policies much less any kind of recycling culture. Thousands of plastic bags pollute the country by simply lying on the side of the road and in the frailest of ecosystems. Recent investigations have shown that Venezuela consumes 500,000 tons of plastics annually, of which it only recycles 20 percent. The consumption per capita of about 150 plastic bags annually in a Country that has 29 million inhabitants.
Dioxins and toxins, which arise from the combustion of plastics or spontaneous decomposition, are carcinogenic substances that affect the food chain, the soil, water bodies and human tissues. Nature engages in the battle against these pollutants but it usually takes it anywhere between 150 to 300 years to bio degrade a single plastic bag, it’s also important to mention that this natural process leaves behind high levels of toxins.
The Paraguaná Peninsula is situated in the northern most part of Falcón State, Venezuela 500 km to the west of Caracas. This peninsula is washed from the north and east side of Caribbean Sea. Paraguaná is one of most arid areas of Venezuela, is characterized by great force winds that can have speeds of up to 35 km/h, which makes the situation worse and virtually uncontrollable by allowing these bags to cover great distances to only become somewhat of an unwelcome permanent fixture of the landscape.
The wind scatters the garbage throught the extensions of the peninsula, putting shredded plastic bags in cactus and in and around the space in which the wind blows, this truly turns an apocalyptic landscape.
The idea of the project is to seeks a fact based complaint that could be reversed by taking a much need political consciousness by trying to convene a meeting in the affected landscape of the Peninsula with portraits in which I put plastic bags on the heads of the inhabitants of the area so that we can call attention to this situation in an attempt reconsider the damage we are doing
