My current project Drifters focuses on the global issue of marine debris and plastics in the ocean. I began this project in 2006 during an artist residency on the Big Island after discovering the massive amounts of plastic being deposited on the remote shores of the Hawaiian Islands.North of the Hawaiian Islands, in an enormous current called the North Pacific Gyre, is a vast stew of floating plastic larger than the state of Texas,some of which washes up on land when it hits the islands.I began photographing these sites and collecting this debris, using the material to talk about plastics pollution,the sleeping giant of environmental disaster.The Drifters works include sculptural wall and floor installations, site specific works and photography to contextualize the origin of the object materials.

Works from Right to Left

1.-4  Site Photographs, South Point, Big Island, Hawaii.  June, 2008.

5. New World Map, 2008

The plastic elements on the wall were collected 3 weeks ago from the sites depicted in the photographs on the Big Island of Hawaii’s south shore.  I collected as many pieces as I could that contained written text, in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, English, Russian and Polish.  These objects have travelled the ocean as Drifters, becoming transformed on their journey, and presenting a portrait of the global consumer society.

6. China Bottle Web, 2008

Bottle Web is a form made from over 250 discarded plastic water bottles collected in the nearby villages of this area during the past week. This network of connection that unites all life can be made visible by examining the flow of water, both local and global. As the global population continues to grow, very little conversation about conservation has occurred. The reaction of habit and convenience is to buy bottled water. The natural network of water flow has become artificial and commodified. Plastic that never disappears off the earth is being produced and used by the billions every day to contain and transport this naturally mobile substance. I am attempting to make visible a problematic cycle that needs to be re-thought. The form becomes a trap for the plastic, and a metaphor for the web of connection.

                                    Pam Longobardi

                                           Pam Longobardi     

                                            Pam Longobardi    

                                               Pam Longobardi  

                                                Pam Longobardi     

                                            Pam Longobardi