A giant 90-metre sculpture on University of Cape Town’s (UCT) upper campus plaza has been created by a group of environmentally conscious students in efforts to increase awareness on the benefits of recycling and to inspire positive change among the campus community.
Constructed out of mutton cloth, the large sculpture referred to as “the intestine” has been stuffed with three weeks’ worth of UCT’s contaminated waste bags and one month’s worth of cleaned recyclable waste.
The brains behind this project are three students at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, Kayleigh Cornish, Danielle du Plooy and Shahir Singh and they hope it will promote a culture of recycling and inspire change across campus.
This unique project forms part of the Khusela Ikamva Sustainable Campus Project, a transdisciplinary collaborative effort initiated to set the university as a ‘Living Lab’ and to maximise its reach and impact.
It is also described as a key enabler in transforming UCT’s institutional fabric to reduce its ecological footprint, support the university’s environmental sustainability strategy and achieve a more sustainable campus.
Group member, Kayleigh Cornish, said the project is inspired by a series of photos by photographer Chris Jordon, which captured how birds consumed plastic. “From Chris’s photographs we were inspired to create this intestine filled with waste and bursting at different points to illustrate and capture the violent effect pollution has on wildlife,” she said.
She added that the project aims to pique students’ and staff’s interest as they enter the plaza and provide them with a surreal and enlightening experience on pollution.
The director of environmental suitability at UCT, said he is impressed by the project. “Art is an important and effective way to create awareness about our many environmental challenges. Well done to these students for their creativity and passion that is so evident in this excellent art installation,” he said.
Once it has run its course, the students said the contaminated waste will be returned to UCT and the recyclable waste will be recycled. The mutton cloth will be washed and donated to UCT’s Art Department to be used as scrap fabric for cleaning.
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Picture: University of Cape Town / Facebook