Emily Sumner

 

Becoming bottle-nosed

 

Bottle caps and plastics
610mm x 910mm

 

Reserve price: £100

Becoming bottle-nosed is a mosaic-style depiction of a bottle-nosed dolphin, made entirely from discarded bottle caps and plastics. The image celebrates the playful nature of the ocean’s most intelligent creature. But on closer inspection, there’s irony; the dolphin’s movement is hindered by the materials polluting its home.

 

Approximately 11 million tons of plastic enter the world’s oceans every year, which is comparable to dumping 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic into the ocean every day. Unfortunately bottle caps are among the top 5 most found items during coastal clean-ups. Dolphins, like many marine species, often mistake plastic for food or become entangled in it.

 

It’s estimated that by 2050, there could be more plastic in the sea than fish by weight. Therefore, this is both a tribute and a warning. Each lid represents a piece of waste that could have ended up in the ocean, where plastics outnumber marine life.