Plastic Bag Abstraction Triptych, John Dahlsen, plastic bags, http://www.johndahlsen.com/detail_plastic_bags/Plastic_Bag_Abstraction.html
John Dahlsen is one of the most renowned Australian artists for highlighting environmental issues and using rubbish collected from the beach to create his works. Dahlsen grew up with no father, as his committed suicide three weeks before Dahlsen was born. This was an issue that Dahlsen found he was able to begin resolving after his studio was ruined by a fire in 1983. This fire destroyed seven years’ worth of artworks. Not only were material possession wrecked, but the fire had a large influence on the foundations of his life, as he was faced with mortality. From this his creative style changed, as he became “less rigid as a person” (John Dahlsen, New York Magazine- Art Calendar) .
Dahlsen has had a huge public effect on environmental issues, touring the world presenting lectures as both an artist and an activist about litter’s effect on the world, specifically the ocean. He was awarded the Swell Sculpture Exhibition “Environmental Award” (an exhibition held to celebrate environmental art in Australia) in 2009 and 2012. His permanent exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum Sydney, entitled “Ecologic”, encourages people to create a sustainable future for the planet.
Dahlsen lives at Byron Bay, which he describes as being perfect. When a person lives near to the ocean or in a place that is seen as being perfect, the resident will have a relationship to nature to some extent. Dahlsen realised this as he became passionately invested in collecting plastic objects he found along the beach until he had accumulated 80 large bags in his studio. This was to become his new medium. Dahlsen is acutely aware of the impact that plastic has on the environment, poisoning the ocean and killing animals. One of the most shocking realities about pollution in the ocean is that the fish that ingest the rubbish then have the chemicals spread throughout their body, and when human eat the fish they then are consuming their own idle waste.
John Dahlsen and found plastic objects in his studio.
Dahlsen’s artworks made of plastic bags are a grim, yet beautiful reminder of the part that each human has to play in the health of the planet. The 44 cm by 165 cm Plastic Bag Abstraction Triptych was created by Dahlsen in 2003 using plastic bags found strewn across his environment. The thing I love about the work is that it does not try to make you feel at fault and pressure you into improving your pollution, but persuades you gently. The soft colours of purple, green, grey and blues are relaxing, and make you want to pick up any rubbish you see. It is quite interesting that Dahlsen has created such an aesthetically pleasing piece to highlight pollution, instead of an ugly, intrusive piece which offends you and puts you off ever seeing rubbish again! I am impressed with the poise in which he has created this piece, giving it a positive, yet restrained feeling.
The rhythmic positioning of the coloured plastic creates the illusions of waves softly flowing over the piece; this may be intentional and may reflect the ocean that Dahlsen is surrounded by.
The focal point of this artwork is the stripes of blue and green plastic, which contrast against the clear and grey bags surrounding them. The eye is then directed down the work by the frames to the purple and brown patches, which have less of an immediate impact on the viewer but add to the overall piece. The way that the artwork is viewed, can be paralleled to how the viewer will react to it, to see the value in the throw- away objects as they are set like jewels among less attractive versions.
Dahlsen also comments on this is his description of the works; “This is my way of making a difference, and at the same time I’m sharing a positive message about beauty that can be gained from the aesthetic of appreciating art, as well as giving examples of how we can recycle and reuse in creative ways.”(John Dahlsen, New York Magazine- Art Calendar). He describes the creation of his artworks as “alchemical”, taking a man-made object that has served its purpose then been disposed of without regard, and the final alchemy being the way that the view interprets the work and applies a message to their own life.
This selectivity of the hues of the plastic bags creates something that is distant from the way that the ugly material would normally be viewed. This changes the perspective of the way that humans view objects as being at their disposal, to be cast away as soon as their purpose has been fulfilled. The plastic bags become something with potential and art viewed then as art objects.
‘Plastic Bag Abstraction Triptych’ is a beautiful work which highlights the important environmental issues that society must face, while also appealing to people’s aesthetics. John Dahlsen should be commended on his recycled master piece that continues to help improve the way that the public views litter.
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