0:00:01.845,0:00:04.233 This is Sian Ka'an. 0:00:04.233,0:00:07.742 just south of Tulum[br]on Mexico's Caribbean coast, 0:00:07.742,0:00:10.065 it's a federally protected reserve, 0:00:10.065,0:00:12.382 a UNESCO World Heritage Site, 0:00:12.382,0:00:15.265 and one of the most diverse[br]regions on the planet. 0:00:15.460,0:00:17.374 But when I first visited in 2010, 0:00:17.374,0:00:20.801 I was horrified and completely confused 0:00:20.801,0:00:23.103 as to why the beach was covered in trash. 0:00:23.103,0:00:27.750 I soon realized that it was floating in[br]from all over the world. 0:00:27.750,0:00:31.508 I've since returned after[br]that first journey several times a year 0:00:31.508,0:00:33.932 to visit Sian Ka'an,[br]to the country of my birth, 0:00:33.932,0:00:35.558 to work with this trash, 0:00:35.558,0:00:40.110 and so far we've documented garbage[br]from 58 different countries and territories 0:00:40.110,0:00:42.478 on six continents, 0:00:42.478,0:00:46.334 all washing ashore[br]in this paradise in Mexico. 0:00:46.563,0:00:49.394 Although I can never know[br]where a product was dropped, 0:00:49.394,0:00:52.805 I can at times, based on the label,[br]know where something was made. 0:00:52.805,0:00:56.781 In red, you see all of the countries[br]represented by their trash 0:00:56.781,0:00:59.243 in Sian Ka'an, 0:00:59.243,0:01:02.460 such as these Haitian butter containers, 0:01:02.460,0:01:03.768 all shapes and sizes, 0:01:03.768,0:01:06.014 Jamaican water bottles. 0:01:06.014,0:01:08.382 Not surprisingly, a lot of the stuff[br]is from neighboring Caribbean countries, 0:01:08.382,0:01:10.185 but the stuff is from everywhere. 0:01:10.185,0:01:12.993 Here's a sampling[br]of international water bottles, 0:01:12.993,0:01:16.580 and one of the ironies is that[br]a lot of what I'm finding 0:01:16.580,0:01:20.084 are products for cleaning[br]and beautification, 0:01:20.084,0:01:22.555 such as this item from the United States, 0:01:22.555,0:01:25.561 which is actually made[br]to protect your plastic. 0:01:25.561,0:01:29.231 Shampoo from South Korea, 0:01:29.231,0:01:31.519 bleach from Costa Rica, 0:01:31.519,0:01:33.216 and a Norwegian toilet cleaner, 0:01:33.216,0:01:35.867 and it's items that are all[br]very familiar to us, 0:01:35.867,0:01:39.092 or at least I hope you're familiar[br]with these toothbrushes. 0:01:39.092,0:01:42.175 Kitchen utensils. 0:01:42.175,0:01:46.456 Toys. 0:01:46.456,0:01:49.787 I'm also finding evidence[br]of burning plastic trash 0:01:49.787,0:01:53.248 which released cancer-causing[br]fumes into the air. 0:01:53.248,0:01:59.205 People ask what's the most[br]interesting item that I've found, 0:01:59.205,0:02:00.343 and that's by far this prosthetic leg, 0:02:00.343,0:02:02.419 and, in the background if you can see[br]that blue little bottle cap, 0:02:02.419,0:02:03.952 at the time that I found it, 0:02:03.952,0:02:06.932 it was actually the home[br]to this little hermit crab. 0:02:06.932,0:02:09.238 This guy is so cute. 0:02:13.371,0:02:16.569 And it's these fascinating objects 0:02:16.569,0:02:19.919 but also horrifying objects, 0:02:19.919,0:02:21.424 each with their own history, 0:02:21.424,0:02:25.635 that I use to make my ephemeral[br]environmental artworks. 0:02:25.635,0:02:28.757 And it all started with this image[br]in February of 2010, 0:02:28.757,0:02:30.303 when I first visited Sian Ka'an. 0:02:30.303,0:02:33.682 I noticed that blue was the most[br]prevalent color among the plastic. 0:02:33.682,0:02:37.041 Purple is actually the most rare color.[br]It's kind of like gold to me. 0:02:37.041,0:02:38.550 But blue is the most prevalent,[br]and so I gathered some of the blues 0:02:38.550,0:02:43.204 and made this little arrangement[br]in front of the blue sky 0:02:43.204,0:02:44.989 and blue Caribbean waters, 0:02:44.989,0:02:47.535 and when I took a photograph[br]and looked at the test shot, 0:02:47.535,0:02:50.796 it was like a lightning bolt[br]hit me in that moment, 0:02:50.796,0:02:53.529 and I knew I was going[br]to have to come back 0:02:53.529,0:02:56.444 to create a whole series[br]of installations on location 0:02:56.444,0:02:58.006 and photograph them. 0:02:58.006,0:02:59.734 So this turned out to be a sketch 0:02:59.734,0:03:03.403 for a work that I completed[br]three years later, 0:03:03.403,0:03:06.378 and I had no idea that[br]almost 10 years later, 0:03:06.378,0:03:09.054 almost a decade later,[br]I'd still be working on it, 0:03:09.054,0:03:11.441 but the problem persists. 0:03:11.441,0:03:13.391 So I'm going to show you[br]some of the images 0:03:13.391,0:03:18.374 from the series that I called "Washed Up:[br]Transforming a Trashed Landscape." 0:03:18.374,0:03:21.102 Please keep in mind that[br]I do not paint the garbage. 0:03:21.102,0:03:24.879 I'm collecting it and organizing it[br]by color on the same beaches 0:03:24.879,0:03:26.487 where I find it. 0:03:34.730,0:03:36.807 This is my precious trash pile, 0:03:36.807,0:03:39.333 as seen in 2015 0:03:39.333,0:03:42.140 after putting on a first edition[br]of the "Museo de la Basura," 0:03:42.140,0:03:44.176 or Museum of Garbage. 0:03:44.176,0:03:47.637 It's fully my intention[br]to care for this garbage, 0:03:47.637,0:03:48.724 to exalt it, 0:03:48.724,0:03:50.009 put it on a pedestal, 0:03:50.009,0:03:51.558 and to curate it. 0:03:51.558,0:03:53.931 We have all seen devastating images 0:03:53.931,0:03:56.195 of animals dying[br]with plastic in their bellies, 0:03:56.195,0:03:59.098 and it's so important for us[br]to really see those 0:03:59.098,0:04:00.598 and to take those in. 0:04:00.598,0:04:04.584 But it's by making aesthetic,[br]some might say beautiful arrangements 0:04:04.584,0:04:06.134 out of the world's waste, 0:04:06.134,0:04:08.634 that I'm trying to hook the viewer 0:04:08.634,0:04:11.820 to draw in those that might be numb[br]to the horrors of the world 0:04:11.820,0:04:15.731 and give them a different way[br]to understand what's happening. 0:04:15.731,0:04:17.996 Some have described[br]the Great Pacific Garbage Patch 0:04:17.996,0:04:20.601 as an island twice the size of Texas, 0:04:20.601,0:04:22.222 but I've been told that it's hard to see 0:04:22.222,0:04:24.499 because it's more like a smog, 0:04:24.499,0:04:26.045 so through my artwork, 0:04:26.045,0:04:29.976 I attempt to depict the reality[br]of what's happening with our environment 0:04:29.976,0:04:32.472 and to make the invisible visible. 0:04:32.800,0:04:35.243 My key question at first,[br]after starting the project, 0:04:35.243,0:04:37.316 was, "What do I do[br]with the garbage when I'm done?" 0:04:37.316,0:04:41.796 So I was told by some[br]that it could be damaged goods 0:04:41.796,0:04:45.752 after traveling across the ocean[br]and being exposed to the elements, 0:04:45.752,0:04:49.913 that it could become degraded[br]and potentially ruin a batch of recycling. 0:04:50.167,0:04:54.288 The landfill was not[br]a happy resting place either. 0:04:54.288,0:04:55.869 And then finally, it dawned on me, 0:04:55.869,0:04:59.731 after all of the effort by me[br]and all of the people who have helped me 0:04:59.731,0:05:02.269 collect and organize and clean this trash, 0:05:02.269,0:05:04.045 that I should keep it, 0:05:04.045,0:05:06.600 and so that's the plan, 0:05:06.600,0:05:09.105 to use it and to reuse it endlessly 0:05:09.105,0:05:10.613 to make more artwork 0:05:10.613,0:05:14.250 and to engage communities[br]in environmental artmaking. 0:05:15.167,0:05:16.805 So this is an example 0:05:16.805,0:05:18.969 of a community-based[br]artwork that we did last year 0:05:18.969,0:05:22.645 with the local youth[br]of Punta Allen in Sian Ka'an, 0:05:22.645,0:05:26.294 and the key part of the community work[br]are the beach cleans 0:05:26.294,0:05:28.256 and education programming, 0:05:28.256,0:05:28.841 and as this community[br]around the project grows, 0:05:28.841,0:05:32.726 and as my trash collection grows, 0:05:32.726,0:05:35.731 I really believe that[br]the impact will as well. 0:05:36.222,0:05:38.782 And so, over the years, 0:05:38.782,0:05:40.700 I've become a little obsessed[br]with my trash collection. 0:05:40.700,0:05:44.933 I pack into suitcases and travel with it, 0:05:44.933,0:05:47.500 I take it on vacation with me, 0:05:47.500,0:05:51.384 and in the latest work, 0:05:51.384,0:05:54.985 I've begun to break the two-dimensional[br]plane of the photograph. 0:05:54.985,0:05:57.173 I'm really excited about this new work. 0:05:57.173,0:05:59.907 And I see these as living artworks 0:05:59.907,0:06:02.775 that will morph and grow over time. 0:06:02.969,0:06:04.569 Although my greatest wish 0:06:04.569,0:06:08.042 is that I run out of[br]the raw material for this work, 0:06:08.042,0:06:09.547 we're not there yet. 0:06:09.547,0:06:11.415 So in the new phase of the project, 0:06:11.415,0:06:14.035 I plan on continuing the community work 0:06:14.035,0:06:17.233 and making my own work[br]at a much larger scale, 0:06:17.233,0:06:19.702 because the problem is massive. 0:06:19.702,0:06:23.187 Eight million tons of plastic waste 0:06:23.187,0:06:26.133 enter our oceans every year, 0:06:26.133,0:06:28.504 destroying ecosystems. 0:06:28.504,0:06:33.921 Right now, as I speak, there's literally[br]an oil spill of plastic happening. 0:06:34.425,0:06:40.267 I see this project as a plea for help[br]and a call to action. 0:06:40.267,0:06:43.067 Our health and future[br]is inextricably linked 0:06:43.067,0:06:45.818 to that of our oceans. 0:06:45.818,0:06:49.165 I call the project "Washed Up:[br]Transforming a Trashed Landscape," 0:06:49.165,0:06:51.757 but it's actually transformed me[br]and made me rethink 0:06:51.757,0:06:53.959 my own behaviors and consumption. 0:06:53.959,0:06:56.998 And if it can help anybody else[br]gain more awareness, 0:06:56.998,0:06:59.154 then it will have been worthwhile. 0:06:59.154,0:07:01.090 Thank you so much. 0:07:01.090,0:07:03.373 (Applause)