The Garbage Project began for me out of an idea I took from Developmental Transformation Therapy (DvT). This is a type of drama therapy where you enter into play acting with a group of people, which inevitably brings up some of the issues you are dealing with. The idea is that, if we open our problems up to the ridiculousness of imagination, we will become comfortable with change and see that all of our problems are not as set in stone as we might think.

Taking that initial concept, I chose to work with something that is a real travesty our world is currently dealing with, namely the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. 

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch exists in an area of the ocean that, because of current patterns, collects and keeps an extremely high amount of plastic that won't break down. But the North Pacific Gyre doesn't only collect garbage. It also collects a huge amount of plant and sea life, and should be an incredibly vibrant ecosystem. Unfortunately, because of the plastic, large amounts of wildlife are being devastated.

So, taking the idea of DvT, I decided to put my imagination into action and play with an idea of what could be possible. I came up with the idea of the garbage solidifying into a land mass where a brand new type of aboriginal population was found. Although my imagination doesn't change what's actually happening, maybe with a little bit more play, humour and imagination around these issues we'll be able to come up with workable long term solutions.

For this exhibition, I am working on a faux documentary about the Garbage Patch People, photoshopped images of this "new population", making fake literature, as well as imitation artifacts from the Garbage Patch People culture.