Pica Pica Collection
Trash Art Series
2019
We produce an astonishing 3.6 million tonnes of municipal solid waste each day. By 2025, that’s projected to rise to 6.1 million metric tonnes per day. While it’s generally contained in highly developed countries, it’s generally out of control in the rest of the world, adversely affecting health and contaminating our air, landscape, freshwater and oceans. As we continue to waste more and more, we use more natural resources and increase pollution in our world which has became a huge and growing problem.
Pica Pica Collection is trying to address this issue by transforming trash into artworks, with a purpose of raising the awareness of the difficulties that today’s world is facing. By giving waste a different meaning and a new value the art series exposes topics that will eventually affect the future and well-being of humanity, ranging from trash overload to carbon dioxide pollution, climate change and general social problems.
Pica Pica Collection was exhibited in Brisbane, Australia in the beginning of 2019. The exhibition ran for a week from 11th April until 18th of April at Can You Keep A Secret?.
Drought
Plaster on wood
12cm x 12cm x 12cm
2019
A cow on overage releases around 100kg of Methane per year. The negative effect on the climate of Methane is 23 times higher than the effect of CO2. Therefore the release of Methane per year for each cow is equivalent to about 2300 kg of carbon dioxide, which is the same amount generated by burning 1000 liters of petrol.
World-wide, there are about 1.5 billion cows and bulls which emit about two billion metric tons of CO2-equivalents per year. In addition, clearing of tropical forests and rain forests to get more grazing land and farm land is responsible for an extra 2.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emission per year!
Agriculture is responsible for 18% of the total release of greenhouse gases world-wide, which is more than the whole transportation sector and that makes it one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems.
Thirst
Acrylic enamel on plaster and wood
12cm x 12cm x 10cm
2019
1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to fresh water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year.
Agriculture uses 70% of the world’s accessible freshwater, but around 60% of this is wasted due to leaky irrigation systems, inefficient application methods as well as the cultivation of crops that are too thirsty for the environment in which they are grown.
The rapid growth of human population with its accompanying economic development and industrialization, has transformed water ecosystems around the world and resulted in a massive loss of biodiversity.
Oil and natural gas fracking, uses more than 28 times the water it did 15 years ago and as humans continue to pump more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, patterns of weather and water will change around the world. These changes will combine to make less water available for agriculture, energy generation, cities and ecosystems around the world.
Concern about water availability grows as freshwater use continues at unsustainable levels.
Diabetes
Acrylic enamel on plaster and metal
2019
The recommended daily allowance for sugar consumption is no more than 6 teaspoons per day. A can of Coca-Cola contains about 10 teaspoon of sugar.
Within 20 minutes of consuming a 330ml can of Coca-Cola, blood sugar levels spike, which causes a burst of insulin release. Caffeine absorption is complete after 40 minutes causing blood pressure to rise and adenosine receptors in the brain to be blocked, which prevents drowsiness. Dopamine production is increased after 45 minutes of consumption to stimulate the reward and pleasure center of the brain, similarly to how heroin works. The phosphoric acid, which masks the sweetness of the soda, also binds to calcium, magnesium, and zinc, preventing them from being absorbed and utilized for processes such as bone growth. After an hour, the diuretic effects of caffeine kicks in causing urinary excretion of the bonded calcium, magnesium, and zinc, as well as sodium, electrolyte, and water. Finally, a sugar crash occurs, causing irritability and drowsiness.
Those who drink 1-2 cans of sugary beverages a day are 26% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
Throne
Plaster and Metal
7cm x 7cm x 10 cm
2019
The wealthiest 1 percent of the world's population owns more than half of the world's wealth. There are like 36 million millionaires in the world, and their numbers are expected to grow to 44 million by 2022. This shows that the gap between rich and poor is far greater than imagined. Big business and the super-rich are fueling the inequality crisis by dodging taxes, driving down wages and using their power to influence politics.
Great Story
Acrylic enamel on plaster
2019
Alcohol is considered the world's most dangerous drug when you bear in mind the availability of it and the harm it does to drinkers, their friends, families and to society in general. It exceeds the dangers of heroin and crack cocaine when the overall risk to the user and others is taken into account. There are 6.2 litres of pure alcohol consumed a year per person aged 15 years or older, which translates into 13.5 grams of pure alcohol per day.
While there is nothing wrong with having a beer or two, the chronic use of alcohol causes numerous medical, psychiatric, social, and family problems.
But regardless of the facts above we all know, no great story ever started with someone eating a salad.
Tree
Collaboration with Nico Iaia
Wood and paper on canvas
30cm x 40cm
2019
Apparently there is somewhere between 3.5 to 7 billion trees cut down every year in order to provide space for agricultural production of palm oil, fabric, paper and logging.
Trees are vital. As the biggest plants on the planet, they give us oxygen, store carbon, stabilise the soil and give life to the world's wildlife.
Parchet
Plywood mosaic on plastic milk bottle
2019
Parquet is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effect, mostly in flooring. The word derives from the Old French word parchet (the diminutive of parc), literally meaning "a small enclosed space"
Totem
Metal and Foam Board
7 cm x 24 cm
2019
If every drop of Coke ever produced were put in 8-ounce bottles and laid end-to-end, they would reach the moon and back over 2,000 times.
Coke causes liver damage, tooth decay, kidney disease, diabetes, heartburn, osteoporosis, hypertension, heart disease, impaired digestion and has the same kind of immediate effect on the brain as the illicit drug, heroin. This is what makes it so addictive.
Drink water.
Winter Is Coming
Pieces cut from plastic milk bottles, hanged on nylon fishing line
2019
Over a few decades, humans have managed to dump tonnes upon tonnes of garbage into the ocean. About 8 million tonnes of plastic enters the sea every year, and at this rate we face a future with more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050. In the most polluted places in the ocean, the mass of plastic already exceeds the amount of plankton six times over. This is condemning countless marine birds and animals to death by entanglement or poisoning, and even leading to chemical contamination of the fish we eat. Consequently the toxins from the plastics enter the food chain, threatening human health. Plastics also give off powerful greenhouse gases as they break down, so on top of all that contribute to climate change, too.
Hatched
Egg shell on paper
2019
Eggs in general have always held particular symbolic significance. They embody the idea of rebirth and rejuvenation in the cycle of life, reflected also in its shape, with neither beginning nor end. Partly because an egg is a visual shorthand for new life and un-hatched potential, it encloses nascent life to emerge from it and thus brings hope and represents purity.
An egg as a traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth already played a symbolic role in the Egyptian myth of Creation. Romans used eggs as a burial offering. The custom of giving eggs as gifts continues today, especially at Easter, the celebration of resurrection and the awakening of nature.
Enchanted Rose
Paper and wood in glass
20cm x 12cm
2019
Red Rose
Metal and paper on wood
2019
The red rose began its path as a symbol of love already in Greek and Roman times, where it was tied to Aphrodite, or Venus, the goddess of love. Throughout its long, storied history, the red rose still reigns as the ultimate symbol of passionate affection
Blue Rose
Metal and paper on wood
2019
Given its non-existence in nature, and the longing for its presence in the world of flora, the blue rose symbolizes unattainableness. It represents something which is destined to remain as a dream, and as a never-to-be-fulfilled wish. Some people regard the blue rose as an exhibition of inner feelings of love at first sight.
Around the World
Coca Cola can and black rope
2019
Ear piercing is one of the oldest known forms of body modification, with artistic and written references from cultures around the world dating back to early history. When a sailor pierced his earlobe, it represented that he had completed his sail around the globe or crossed the equator.
Fossili
Hair tie
2019
Seashells
Pieces from plastic milk bottles
2019
“She sells seashells on the sea shore. The shells she sells are seashells for sure.” Researchers have found that the removal of shells from beaches could damage ecosystems and endanger organisms that rely on shells for their survival.
Seashells are an important part of coastal ecosystems: they provide materials for birds' nests, a home or attachment surface for algae, sea grass, sponges and a host of other microorganisms. Fish use them to hide from predators, and hermit crabs use them as temporary shelters. The removal of large shells and shell fragments also has the potential to alter the rate of shoreline erosion.
So, instead of collecting seashells, we should rather focus on collecting trash from our beaches and leave the ecosystems be.