The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) recently opened a new supermarket-style exhibition featuring products made from recycled plastic bags.
Created by the artist Robin Frohardt and produced by Pomegranate Arts, the plastic bag shop is an immersive experience and an art installation in the ambience of a supermarket.
For the store, Frodhardt has hand-formed products such as meat, dry goods, toiletries, cakes and sushi rolls from thoroughly washed, discarded plastic bags.
With the subtitle “A tragicomic ode to the eternity of plastic”, the exhibition deals with today’s culture of consumption and convenience as well as Climate concernsthrough art and humor.
Addressing climate problems
Frohardt has repurposed 2-liter bottles as “Plastic Dew,” orange tarps as carrots, plastic lids as “Capperonnis” on fake frozen pizzas, and “free-range” plastic bags as a dozen eggs.
In addition, the store can be converted into a immersive Cinema with actors, puppetry, shadow play and handmade sets to present “a blackly humorous and often tender story about the lasting impact of single-use plastic,” according to a press release.
“The presentation of the Plastic Bag Store at Mass MoCA is the first integration of this experience into a museum and its longest run to date,” said museum director Kristy Edmunds.
“Beyond the towering spaces in which ideas of scale can unfold, Mass MoCA is at its core about a trusting relationship with artists, where it is not only possible but essential to go beyond the boundaries of the familiar.
“It is also abundantly clear that the next 25 years of Mass MoCA must be based on durable and environmentally sustainable systems.
“The introduction of the Plastic Bag Store on our campus – in addition to its longevity and witty humor – opens up opportunities for our community to learn and share about reducing our collective Environmental impact.”
The Plastic Bag Store, which premiered in Times Square in 2020, is open at Mass MoCA until November 3.
“Artists like Robin respond artistically to what is happening in the world around them by designing familiar objects that have the power to attract audiences of all ages and inspire them to take action in their own lives and in their communities,” said Lisa DentDirector of Public Programs at Mass MoCA.
Photos courtesy of Mass MoCA and Robin Frohardt
