Plarn Project: Arena

Commentary

Modeled loosely after a McDonald’s style ball pit play area, it contains over 60,000 plastic shopping bags made into yarn and wound into balls by the artists and students across the nation. The ubiquitous plastic advertisements and branding is contained within an octagonal structure the color of a stop sign. A viewer looking inside the work activates the sound of children playing.

Constant pressure enticing people to participate in a process of consuming and disposal, results in an assemblage of branded waste in our environment. From an early age we are modeled the habits of acquiring, dutifully following a passive path without questioning.

The experience of creative solutions to the waste of consumer transactions provides young consumers with an awareness of the impact of choice. Special thanks to our school contributors for supporting this project!