OFF-BLUE
OFF-BLUE, explores control and uncontrollable systematic relationships with petroleum based plastics, ecology crisis and marine creatures.

In Youtube, you’ll find endless amateur videos with the search terms of 'fake fish tank with fake fish.' The is a growing trend indicative of society’s desire for plastic convenience over the real thing. These videos portray the idea of nature through plastic fish and plants. Fake aquariums provide us a sense of control - the calculated choreography and sense of aliveness. This deception is only for the eyes of humans, not for the benefit of the fish. The human-centric desire for the notion of peaceful nature through plastic scenes.

Aquariums represent a microcosm of our greed and dominion over animals. The audiences expect to see controlled peacefulness and liveliness from the animals in a space with plastic facades and stillness. We don’t understand how fish feel about it, but it doesn’t mean it’s peaceful. A fishes’ journey to the aquarium is harmful with inbreeding, overbreeding, crossbreeding. This stress leads to genetically modified fish and results in unusual behaviors.

After extracting fish from their original ecosystem, we then reintroduce these creatures into our artificial blue plastic aquarium. The animals who live behind the glass are contained in the endless stillness. We may have extended the lifespan of these creatures in a fish tank, but we may have also created silent prison voids for them to listlessly wonder about.

Parallel to aquariums, deep-sea creatures are also influenced by our traces. In the Anthropocene, plastics are now found in the deepest ocean trenches. Micro-plastics are now part of the food chain. We attempted to control the uncontrollable nature. Then plastics became uncontrollable. From the scale of small fish tanks to larger aquariums to the ocean, we influence the physiology, behavior, and structural ecology. Who’s to blame?

OFF-BLUE installation indicates the emptiness and stillness felt in the fish tank.
Year: 2020

Material: Metal, mirror plexi-glass, shredded blue micro-plastics, fan, construction RGB lights, textiles, and youtube poems.

Size: 3m x 2.5m x 2.5m