2663 Urban Tumbleweeds at Burning Man
We’re preparing for our art installation “2663 Urban Tumbleweeds” at the Burning Man Festival this summer. Please help us gather 2663 plastic bags by July 15th!
About 2663 Urban Tumbleweeds
In cities, plastic bags are referred to as “urban tumbleweeds” and can be found caught in trees and fluttering around street corners. In fact, Americans consume 2663 plastic bags in one second. We want to raise awareness about these humble symbols of mindless over-consumption and their severe environmental impact by creating art, which educates viewers and furthers our commitment to sustainability. By visually translating statistics into art, we will construct a chain made out of 2663 bags.
2663 Urban Tumbleweeds at Burning Man
At the Burning Man Festival, the chain will run along Black Rock City’s perimeter trash fence – a destination for many intrepid Burners. “2663 Urban Tumbleweeds” is a reminder to burners that their trash doesn’t just disappear beyond the city limit; it continues to exist forever, especially in landfills. The 0.5 mile long chain conveys the feeling that this problem is vast, beginning from our urban living (here Black Rock City) and extending far out into the future of our planet. Participants will be able to walk along the – seemingly endless – chain as a guided path, reading and learning facts about what can be done to change and improve the situation.
Local bag collection centers
We set up drop off stations and collection centers locally to accumulate the donated bags and bring awareness to both the problem and installation.
How you can help us gather 2663 plastic bags by July 15th
Due to our method for creating the bag chain we are collecting only classic, plastic bags with strappy handles, like the following image. These are most often found at grocery stores and pharmacies.
We would like to have color in our chain so the more colorful the bags the better!
If you are interested please contact at sheri@mslk.com to arrange a drop off or pick up.
Thank you in advance for your support and participation! And many thanks to all those who’ve already donated bags.
What happens to the plastic bags after?
After the festival, we’re planning to continue to use the chain adapting its shape and installation to other environments. Perhaps we will be able to install the chain at Socrates Park next year. We’ve also approached a tiny gallery in Soho where the bags would most likely fill the space from floor to ceiling.
[...] June 27 – July 1. It seems that Jason will help you give your plastic bag a new life. I might have 2,663 or so plastic bags lying around here, maybe I’ll turn one into a rain [...]
By: reactions » Blog Archive » Plastic Bag Happenings at Kiosk on June 24, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Oh, yes we will have bags for you too! When our happening at KIOSK is over I’m sure there is a life for some of the bags. We’d like to keep some to reuse but there will be plenty around.
By: Marco on June 27, 2008 at 6:18 am
Sadly, we rarely use bags any more. We go canvas to the grocery store and the few I have are not the “classic” type. If only I could persuade my newspaper to stop giving us the paper in those plastic sleeves. Are you interested in a billion of those? Cool project!
By: Caitlin on July 12, 2008 at 8:50 am
Thanks for offering your help, but we finally gathered 2663 bags!
By: Claudia on July 14, 2008 at 10:25 am
[...] call for plastic bag donations for our 2663 Urban Tumbleweeds project got the attention of Stephanie Simon, NY1’s arts reporter, and she came out to our [...]
By: reactions » Blog Archive » MSLK on NY1! on August 10, 2008 at 9:13 pm
[...] we created 2663 Urban Tumbleweeds last year our goal was to visualize the effects of this mindless consumption with 2663 plastic [...]
By: reactions » Blog Archive » Watershed, a New MSLK Eco-Installation on April 19, 2009 at 3:37 pm