The Neo/Geo Landfill Club – an exhibition I had no idea was happening until about 4 days ago. It’s been two weeks and this course has already taught me so much; I was hoping that I was going to learn a bit more when the professor sent an email saying that we had to meet him in the library. This exhibition was created by Marina Zurkow, in collaboration with Ben Kauffman and Daniel Shiffman. You know those televisions and art pieces that are tucked away in the library that no one really pays attention to? Yeah, they’re responsible for what’s going in there now.

The main reason the art piece that we helped create was to show the effect that plastic has on the planet, and why things made from these petrochemicals have the ability to possibly outlive the human race.  I just recently read an article that was about what the chemical BPA (which is found in plastic water bottles) does to women, which compelled me to hug my stainless steel water bottle a little tighter that day.

I had done a little research about what plastic does before, but not at this level. We were assigned to bring something made of plastic to class – I decided to bring a plastic spoon. We had to research what kind of chemical it was made up of, and come up with  what it coule be made into, as well as look up how long it would take to biodegrade. Little did I know that that plastic spoon will still be the same plastic spoon in about a million years or so (give or take a few thousand years). I was kind of shocked that we were still using these petrochemicals to make everyday products, despite all the advancements in technology these days.

I must say that this project opened my eyes a little more to what we are doing to the planet, and I am excited to continue with this exhibition.