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Joe Fitting taps out a beat at the Washed Ashore interactive percussion art exhibit at the SF Zoo in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, May 23, 2014. Zoo visitors will be encouraged to rap, tap and bang on a variety of giant sea life sculptures, created from 11 tons of debris found floating in the Pacific Ocean, that will be on display in the Pachyderm Building until Sept. 23. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle
From a distance, the art hanging from the ceiling
of the San Francisco Zoo's old elephant area looks like colorful kelp
suspended in the ocean.
But get closer.
There, forming part of a strand is a yellow shampoo bottle. And several orange dog balls, half a faded Frisbee, a pink sand shovel, a toddler's shoe. And more. Hundreds, thousands more objects.
The overwhelming amount of trash, most of it plastic, suddenly comes into full focus. All of it came out of the ocean.
The display, open to the public through the summer, is part of the 12 tons of garbage turned art at the zoo's "Buoy, Beat 'n' Bop" exhibition created by the nonprofit Washed Ashore.
"I've created something I hope is beautiful and horrifying," said Angela Haseltine Pozzi, lead artist and executive director of the environmental education group of Oregon.
All of the materials used to create a giant starfish, a suspended wiggly eel, the kelp forest, and a range of fish and sea creatures were gathered by thousands of volunteers on the beaches of Oregon.
"The more ways to get people to interact, the more they'll remember it," she said.
A lot of the trash flowed off streets into sewers and down rivers into the ocean, and some of it traveled thousands of miles.
The tail of the 10-foot-long eel is made from a Japanese property marker that probably drifted to Oregon after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Many of the plastic bottles on the 14-foot sea star were from the Beijing Olympics, the dancing figures on the sides unique to the bottles sold at the 2008 Games, Haseltine Pozzi said.
The plastic probably floated in the flotsam and jetsam of the ocean for years before being spit out into a current headed for America. The artist is hard-pressed to say what items are the weirdest or most disturbing.
"We get so much it's hard to say what's weird," she said. "We've just had everything wash up."
The most depressing sculpture is probably the "Fish Bite Fish," made up of bits of plastic that have been chewed on by sea life, the jagged edges an indication that part of the plastic ended up in an ocean animal's belly.
"This is the first opportunity where close to 300,000 people will see this," said Joe Fitting, the zoo's vice president of conservation and education. "The mission of the zoo is to connect people to the world's places ... to connect you and hopefully change behaviors."
Online extra
To see a video of the exhibition, go to: http://bit.ly/TCVrx5.
But get closer.
There, forming part of a strand is a yellow shampoo bottle. And several orange dog balls, half a faded Frisbee, a pink sand shovel, a toddler's shoe. And more. Hundreds, thousands more objects.
The overwhelming amount of trash, most of it plastic, suddenly comes into full focus. All of it came out of the ocean.
The display, open to the public through the summer, is part of the 12 tons of garbage turned art at the zoo's "Buoy, Beat 'n' Bop" exhibition created by the nonprofit Washed Ashore.
"I've created something I hope is beautiful and horrifying," said Angela Haseltine Pozzi, lead artist and executive director of the environmental education group of Oregon.
All of the materials used to create a giant starfish, a suspended wiggly eel, the kelp forest, and a range of fish and sea creatures were gathered by thousands of volunteers on the beaches of Oregon.
Trail of trash
Everything was sorted by color and type and then Haseltine Pozzi came up with the ideas for the sculptures, which can be touched, pushed, drummed on and spun."The more ways to get people to interact, the more they'll remember it," she said.
A lot of the trash flowed off streets into sewers and down rivers into the ocean, and some of it traveled thousands of miles.
The tail of the 10-foot-long eel is made from a Japanese property marker that probably drifted to Oregon after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Many of the plastic bottles on the 14-foot sea star were from the Beijing Olympics, the dancing figures on the sides unique to the bottles sold at the 2008 Games, Haseltine Pozzi said.
The plastic probably floated in the flotsam and jetsam of the ocean for years before being spit out into a current headed for America. The artist is hard-pressed to say what items are the weirdest or most disturbing.
"We get so much it's hard to say what's weird," she said. "We've just had everything wash up."
The most depressing sculpture is probably the "Fish Bite Fish," made up of bits of plastic that have been chewed on by sea life, the jagged edges an indication that part of the plastic ended up in an ocean animal's belly.
Rethinking plastic
Zoo officials say they hope the traveling exhibition, which has appeared in various incarnations at marine centers and other public venues, will spur people to keep better tabs on their trash and rethink the amount of plastic they use."This is the first opportunity where close to 300,000 people will see this," said Joe Fitting, the zoo's vice president of conservation and education. "The mission of the zoo is to connect people to the world's places ... to connect you and hopefully change behaviors."
Online extra
To see a video of the exhibition, go to: http://bit.ly/TCVrx5.
Joe Fitting walks through the Washed Ashore interactive percussion
art exhibit at the SF Zoo in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, May 23,
2014. Zoo visitors will be encouraged to rap, tap and bang on a variety
of giant sea life sculptures, created from 11 tons of debris found
floating in the Pacific Ocean, that will be on display in the Pachyderm
Building until Sept. 23. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle
Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jtucker@sfchronicle.com
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