Grace Collins Event#2 DESMA9

 DESMA Event #2: Jessica Irish



Throughout this class, we've covered topics in art, science, and technology. Jessica Irish, the speaker in the zoom event I attended, addressed plastic. One could connect plastic to all three of these topics. Due to science and technology, humans have been able to use plastic as a material to wrap, preserve, and save many things ranging from prepackaged foods and leftover food items as well as use plastic as a way to sell items in stores. Almost any item you could buy at a given store is wrapped or includes some plastic that is often ripped off and thrown away after purchase. In the short video shown on the zoom it was mentioned, in the short film, that the average person contributes to, “234 lbs plastic waste per year.” A line was then later mentioned that stuck with me. This line was, “no such thing as away, just elsewhere.” Contrasting this line was the story of the sea. While the saddening effects of plastic were being described, videos of ocean life were projected on the zoom. The effects of human plastic use do not just disappear when we throw it away. The “elsewhere” described from the previous quote includes and is not limited to the ocean. However, not only is our overconsumption affected oceanic life, but now microplastics reside everywhere - in our blood, in rain water, etc. 



Mediums such as film and other art forms have tried to raise an awareness of issues surrounding plastic. Films like Jessica Irish’s and books like Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring use the idea of storytelling to explain the detrimental effects of plastic which allow for a more humanistic and empathetic approach rather than spewing statistics and facts alone. 



Works Cited - Images

    Collins, Grace. "Zoom Screenshot" 2022.

    “Best Shorts Competiton.” Winners June 2021 |, June 2021, https://bestshorts.net/winners-june-2021/.

    Irish, Jessica. “This Mortal Plastik.” Jess Irish, 1 Jan. 1970, http://jessirish.com/this-mortal-plastik/.



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