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Kirsty Little – Refuse? REFUSE
June 29 – September 23, 2018
355 Pod Space, Rockville Town Square
While investigating the plastic pollution in our oceans, Kirsty Little kept coming up against huge numbers that she really could not comprehend. Americans use 35,000,000,000 (35 billion) plastic bottles each year. We have barely reduced our plastic footprint since plastic production began 50 years ago. Much has ended up in our seas and landfills. Trillions of micro plastics virtually invisible to the human eye are being eaten by plankton and working their way up the seafood chain to our plates.
Kirsty Little’s installation in the 355 Pod Space located on route 355 near Rockville Town Square, is one of the ways she is working to raise consciousness about plastic pollution. She wants people to think about how many plastic items they use once and then discard. She wants to sensitize people to the costs of careless consumption and disposal of plastic.
To make this installation possible, Little worked with over one hundred people who collected plastic from their households and helped her construct individual numbers overflowing with plastic. Once people started collecting plastic, they began to see it everywhere in their daily lives. The plastic used in this project filled every room in Little’s house. This is a tiny personal portion of the plastic garbage generated every second all over the world.
About the Artist: Kirsty Little was born in England and presently lives in Washington, D.C. She worked 20 years in Circus in collaboration with brilliant performers to make The Wrong Size Stilts/aerial company (renamed AnActAbove), based in London, successful worldwide. As a visual artist, Little works in ceramics, sculpture, and installation.