For our second remix assignment I wanted to find a way to express my feelings about the seriousness of our overuse of plastic bags. After viewing information in class about how millions of plastic bags end up in landfills and waterways, killing countless amounts of wildlife, I was hit with the question "Why are we not more aware of this?". You can go to any grocery store and see the recycled material "green" bags being marketed in the check-out line. But does anyone really think about why it is plastic bags are so horrible? I feel as a society all too often we are only concerned with issues that personally effect us. Animals are ingesting them, confusing them for food, and dying because of it. They are being tangled up in the bags so they can no longer fly or swim. These facts have to do with wildlife, not humans, so a majority of people are not personally effected and don't care to help. I chose the image from a fashion ad to create a "shock" ad. I have the model with a plastic bag over her head, and bags in the water as well as on animals around her. My caption reads "Beautiful?". I would hope this would make the viewer have this devastation really hit them, and think "Why no, this is anything but beautiful". Although it may be graphic, I feel most people are unfortunately more compassionate when it comes to images of other humans being harmed, rather than other wildlife. Hopefully the message is loud and clear.
Original Image Source: Fortune Magazine. Volume 163, Number 4. March 21, 2011. Ben Hassett for Conde Nast.
Kristen Cuttone
