The plastic water-bottle is more ubiquitous, more global than any other kind of plastic, more than any other industrial material, perhaps. A social symbol for consuming pure, clean water it is, like the air we breathe, synonymous with survival. Presumably, bottled water is consumed in greater quantities than soft drinks, so the biggest drink manufacturers are in the water business. Stepping up its packaging, transportation and publicity, they are slowly entering the ‘war zone’. It has begun to be said that, adding to the oil wars, there will be global wars for exploiting what is now termed Blue Gold.
The plastic water-bottle lying in a sea of filth and garbage may possibly fetch a higher price than any other rubbished item from our mass-produced world of goods. So this ‘queen’ of throwaways, this superior quality plastic, does not ‘litter’ the environment. It is whisked off by the waste-picker the minute the water is consumed and the container dumped.
The idea of re-cycling and readymades has been floating around for almost a century. Imagine: a steady stream from Duchamp’s ‘fountain’ trickles into a humble bottle; the bottle rides the seas and is washed ashore on all and every continent! Metaphorically the plastic water-bottle circulates across the world, it knows no boundaries, it does not sink, it enters
the cosmos. The offering is well socialized, more ‘handy’– the plastic water-bottle has become an extension of our very hand. You tip it into your mouth, slake your thirst, keep cool and, lo! Another hand grabs the bottle and conveys it through intermediaries to the shredding factory where it converts into fibre-wool, a stuffing for puffy winter jackets that keep us warm! What a makeover of natural elements, material properties, consumer needs!
Flotage first lays out a colour field to delight the eye, then sprouts a giant form that signals environmental disaster. I apply an organizing principle to garbage, arrange each item in a grid — repetition is the leitmotif—but when destructive forces erupt, our illusion of well-being is exposed, our sense of order explodes. Ambiguous forms, unexplained meanings attract us: the viewer looking up at the overhanging rock-cloud can be awe- struck, but perhaps also galvanized to act, to react, and dispel the impending doom.
Flotage is a field of colour, a spectacle, a dark omen; it also offers a text for dialogue. The project is itself a recycling game!