Potato Head and Art Activist Liina Klauss Draw Attention To
Ocean Plastics with an Installation of Salvaged Flip-Flops
The large-scale artwork launches Saturday, 19 May
at the entrance to Potato Head Beach Club
This May, Potato Head will shed light on the ecological harm caused by the world’s most ubiquitous form of footwear: the flip-flop. Millions of pairs of the synthetic shoe wash ashore around the globe each year, and as a brand surrounded by paradisal beaches, Potato Head is determined to draw attention to the serious issue of ocean plastics through a colourful installation of salvaged sandals.
In its ongoing mission to ‘provide good times and do good in the world,’ Potato Head
has teamed up with award-winning German art activist Liina Klauss to demonstrate
the reality of marine pollution. The artist has created a large-scale installation
constructed from over 5,000 plastic flip-flops, all picked up along the shores of Bali’s
west coast. Klauss and a small team of helpers amassed the large volume of shoes in a
series of six beach clean-ups, while the artwork itself took weeks to build.
“I want to show people a different perspective on what we consider ‘rubbish,’” says Klauss. “Everything we throw away comes back to us (via the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil we grow crops and raise animals on). Flip-flops are just one example; there is potential within all these materials we waste and consider worthless."
To realise this project—a rainbow-hued structure that takes the shape of an ocean wave—Klauss collaborated with two Ubud, Bali-based initiatives. Multi-disciplinary firm IBUKU designed and built the frame from sustainably harvested bamboo, while POTATO HEAD FAMILY Jl. Pantai Pererenan No.149 Pererenan, Bali +62 361 907 8108 the Innovation Lab at Green School supplied a ‘thread’ made entirely from melted- down plastic bottle caps for which to attach the sandals.
“I want to show people a different perspective on what we consider ‘rubbish,’” says Klauss. “Everything we throw away comes back to us (via the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil we grow crops and raise animals on). Flip-flops are just one example; there is potential within all these materials we waste and consider worthless."
To realise this project—a rainbow-hued structure that takes the shape of an ocean wave—Klauss collaborated with two Ubud, Bali-based initiatives. Multi-disciplinary firm IBUKU designed and built the frame from sustainably harvested bamboo, while POTATO HEAD FAMILY Jl. Pantai Pererenan No.149 Pererenan, Bali +62 361 907 8108 the Innovation Lab at Green School supplied a ‘thread’ made entirely from melted- down plastic bottle caps for which to attach the sandals.
The work is installed at the entrance to Potato Head Beach Club from 19 May and
on view throughout the 2019 summer season.
