Feature, Freight News, Sea

The Filthy Thames

[ May 16, 2016   //   Chris ]

Artist Michelle Reader has put together a whole collection of sculptures made from just a small sample of the plastic rubbish collected on the River Thames.

A Bellyful of Plastic is intended to highlight the vast numbers of fish living there have plastic in their gut, including three quarters of the bottom-feeding Thames flounder.

The artist used litter collected by the Port of London Authority on its 95-mile stretch of the tidal Thames and a foreshore clean up in Grays. The sculpture, which shows a shoal of smelt, includes containers, bottles, shoes and even hats.

Michelle Reader said: “It was both fascinating and a little disturbing to see the variety of material that collects in the water and on the foreshore. I was surprised by the sheer number of balls, discarded cotton buds and other items.”

 

Tags: PLA