As a group, we were all concerned with the exponential growth of plastics entering our environment. Our discussions began with a conversation about the "Plastic Ocean," a naturally occurring gyre of unnatural material. The plastics that make up this formation are unlikely to degrade for many lifetimes to come. We began thinking of it as a monumental structure that our generation has created. This led us to think of other monumental structures, ideas surrounding longevity, and other long-lasting remnants of life, such as fossils. While investigating fossils, "Explaining Christians to Dinosaurs" by Jake Chapman greatly influenced our thought process. "Fossils betray their atheism by outliving the ragged flesh and lipid husk that clings to skeletal armatures for dear life."
The idea of "a lipid husk" and the monumentality of the plastic ocean and its various forms, inspired us to create a work based around the Serpent Mound of southwest Ohio. With this local aspect, we decided to derive all of our materials such as plastic bags, locally to provide a connection to our community. The shed skin that we are building represents the layers of accumulation that form over the earth due to our excessive consumption. Just as the shed skin of a snake represents a period of growth, our skin physically represents only one period of accumulated waste upon the body of the earth.
Conceptually, the skin reveals our ever-growing and pervasive lack of concern for our ecological future. The involvement of the Serpent Mound speaks not only to the monumental longevity of plastic but also to a mythic sense of time and space, A Big Here and A Long Now.