macha melanie, france: plastic trash into art project

Macha Melanie, France, will be performing in Berlin next month for Ocean Contemporary’s Bitteres Wasser (“Bitter Waters”) on July 10, 2016. Macha will be one of fifteen international artists sharing works in a variety of disciplines, for the purpose of addressing the global plastic-water crisis. This exhibition exemplifies how critiquing specific social issues has become an explosive art theme. The project focuses on the arts as an important educational tool in this ‘socio-critical’ environment, using this global theme to protect our oceans. Ocean Contemporary works to present contemporary art to the public, thereby growing the awareness of problems within the realms of marine ecology and oceanography. Through collaborations with various partners, Ocean Contemporary can fulfill its objective by encouraging environmentally responsible behavior, which may in turn lead to sustainable change in today’s society and the preservation of the biodiversity of our “blue planet.”

HAF:  This is a great opportunity Macha. Could you tell us about your dance?

Macha:  This is a fluid dance in the middle of a big pile of plastic bags. Through slow and organic movements, dancers suggest poetic ecological thinking-sensations. Plastic bags create a bittersweet atmosphere.  

HAF:  Did you write/choreograph this piece?

Macha:  Yes, I did. This is my statement about this performance:

Water inside-outside fluid, flowing through us to reach the oceans, to evaporate into the sky, and return to our mouths. Vital Water, nourishing and regenerating which rocks like a mother. To flow with harmony in the pace of its Nature, let’s be careful of Water as ourselves. Macha Melanie

HAF:  How many plastic bags will be part of this movement?

Macha:  I plan to use 2000 blue bags for the dance piece.

HAF:  I found it intriguing that this project addressing plastic pollution was created. I understand that you are one of the fifteen artists participating in the project. How did you become aware of this opportunity?

Macha:  Yes, it is very stimulating! It was Corinna Rosteck who asked me to do something with her. I had already performed in Berlin in electro-music festivals, and I just love this place! And Corinna is a great artist!

HAF:  What will happen to the plastic bags that are used in the performance?

Macha:  I plan to reuse them, making this performance all over the world…or using the bags for a floating sofa in my rehearsal place; I will not put them in the trash. I promise.

It didn’t take long for the cellophane sack, or plastic bag, invented in the 1960s, to catch on. Plastic is versatile, lightweight, flexible, moisture resistant, strong, and relatively inexpensive. These attractive qualities fuel our voracious appetite for – and overconsumption of – plastic goods. Polyethylene, which is one of the world’s most ubiquitous plastics today, was created in 1898. Jacques Edwin Brandenberger, a Swiss chemist and textile engineer, invented cellophane in 1908. He was awarded the Franklin Institute’s Elliott Cresson Medal in 1937.

In 2008, our global plastic consumption worldwide was estimated to be approximately 260 million tons. There is, however, room for cautious optimism. Some governments are slowly introducing policies that prohibit the use of plastic bags, and others have banned the manufacturing of plastic outright. How do we combat this overwhelming plague of plastics, when it occupies such a huge part of our personal and commercial world?

Ocean Contemporary (in German)