Involuntary Pairs: Man-made lost in Nature

Involuntary Pairs: Man-made lost in Nature

HK Maritime Museum
Central Pier No.8
Monday – Friday from 09:30 – 17:30
Saturday, Sunday from 10:00 – 19:00

extended until 21st March 2021 

Involuntary Pairs is a collection of marine plastic artefacts and natural specimens, picked up from beaches bordering the South China Sea, Indian Ocean, Andaman Sea and Bali Sea. The collection of over 300 individual specimens was curated over the course of seven years by German artist liina klauss. 

Each man-made object is matched with an item found in nature to form an Involuntary Pair: the two objects look alike, yet one is natural, the other originates from human manufacturing. With reference to the botanical system of taxonomy, which was used in the 18th century to bring order to the natural world, liina organizes her findings in a classification system of assumed equality.

liina started to notice the similarity of marine plastics and natural specimens when doing beach clean-ups away from the popular beaches that are regularly cleaned. Among the vast amounts of marine debris, the pairs were often found next to each other. This phenomenon turns out to be caused by a natural law: Things with similar shape, surface texture and buoyancy are treated equally by forces of nature; winds blow them in the same direction, currents and waves carry them to the same beach and they get washed ashore next to each other. These conditions can cause dozens of similar pairs ending up in the same place.

Involuntary Pairs mirror the current environmental crisis and its consequences: mismanaged plastics are merging with nature to the point of inseparability. Despite the omnipresence of plastics in every-day life and its global distribution, the full implications are just starting to be acknowledged and researched.

What we do to nature, we ultimately are doing to ourselves. Latest research confirms that toxins of polymers are not only found in the global ecosphere but also inside human bodies. 

Botanical taxonomy has as a prerequisite the idea of nature existing separately from humans. Involuntary Pairs shows that these borders are getting blurry, that the concept of human isolation is losing its ground. The story of separation that has been upheld for the past centuries has culminated in the current environmental crisis. The believed narrative of human as not part of nature has led to exploitation, destruction and ecocide.

Ultimately there is no separation. The moment we rediscover our connection with nature again, we start to reverse the crisis. 

There is a card game accompanying this exhibition. To order please go >>> here 

Involuntary Pairs: Man-made lost in Nature

HK Maritime Museum
Central Pier No.8
Monday – Friday from 09:30 – 17:30
Saturday, Sunday from 10:00 – 19:00

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extended until 21st March 2021 

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more updates on facebook and IG

update!

I’m immensely grateful and proud of our team Moritz Stefaner (data visualization) & Skye Morèt (marine scientist & artist) and myself to have won the data visualization track for National Geographic’s Ocean Plastic Challenge. A huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped and believed in us and our crazy vision to make a tangible data-sculpture out of thousands of pieces of marine debris. It seams impossible until it's done!
The images and more details will be published in NatGeo magazine soon. This stunning shot below is by Lawrence Cowell (@el_influenza / Instagram) .



O-ton from National Geographic Society: "We are thrilled to announce the winners of the Ocean Plastic Innovation Challenge! Congratulations to @algramo @qwarzo and @PerpetualPlastic. The winners were chosen out of 291 teams, and their projects tackle the plastic issue from three different tracks: design, data visualization and circular economy. Photo: The #PerpetualPlastic team creates physical data sculptures out of waste washed up on Bali’s beaches that represent the paths and fate of all plastics ever produced."

Skye and myself while building #PerpetualPlastic within 24h

AND THERE IS MORE GREAT NEWS TO COME: BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I HAVE A GREAT NEW WEBSITE!  CLICK HERE TO HAVE A LOOK! 
My website was created by this talented designer & photographer and great friend: teschka! 

Teresa Schebiella also takes great photos! Check out her eye candy here!

“Beyond Plastic”

I want to share some photos of “Beyond Plastic”exhibition in Hong Kong earlier this year. To be invited to contribute an installation to the prestigious Heritage1881 building, one of the most famous heritage buildings in Hong Kong, shows the importance and concern that cultural institutions, brands and the public are now placing on marine pollution. 

Driven by concern and love for the ocean environmental artist Liina Klauss joins hands with Plastic-Free-Seas foundation and sponsor Breguet. “Beyond Plastic: Breguet, the Marine Explorer” showcases an array of artworks with deep connection to marine. The spotlight falls on the large-scale installation created by German artist Liina Klauss consisting of well over 10.000 pieces of marine litter collected on Hong Kongs shores. The installation is shown at the former Marine Police Headquaters at Heritage1881 and is open for public viewing on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st of March 2019. 

About Race for Water, a Foundation to Preserve Water 

The Race for Water Foundation is an organization dedicated to water preservation and the ocean in particular. This indispensable resource is under massive threat from plastic pollution and must be protected. The Foundation aims to identify, promote and implement solutions that will give end-of-life plastic a value and create new sources of income for the people most affected by pollution. Using this innovative approach inspired by the principles of a circular economy and social entrepreneurship, Race for Water Foundation seeks to prevent plastic litter from reaching waterways and leaking all the way down to the ocean. 

About Liina Klauss 

Liina Klauss is a German artist living in Hong Kong specialized in environmental art. Her installations and paintings are inspired by nature using man-made and natural waste as art material. Through her works she hopes to raise awareness for the threatening impact we humans have on nature.

About Plastic Free Seas 
Plastic Free Sea’s mission is to provide education free of charge to students on plastic marine pollution, focusing on the causes, effects and solutions. PFS is a leader in marine-focused education in Hong Kong, and to date, the charity has had a presence in more than 125 schools and has reached over 48,000 students and teachers with school talks, beach cleanups, a swimming classroom boat programme and youth conferences.

About Breguet 

Breguet, established since 1775, embodies watchmaking excellence and forms part of the European cultural heritage, brimming with history. From the start, Breguet has woven close ties with science and astronomy. Breguet takes pride in offering exceptional models, such as the Marine É quation Marchante 5887, a Grande Complication model that marks the start of a new era for the contemporary Marine collection.

My gratitude goes out to the main sponsor Breguet: Thank you for sharing my passion for the ocean and investing into rasing awareness for ocean pollution! Another big thanks to What-If events for believing in me and to Plastic Free Seas and all volunteers for helping me to realise this large-scale project! 

Photo credit: Teschka
More photos can be viewed here

Potato Head meets Art Activist liina klauss

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.

The work is installed at the entrance to Potato Head Beach Club from 19 May and on view throughout the 2019 summer season. 

The Universal Sea: Pure or Plastic?!

The Universal Sea – Pure or Plastic?! is a collaboration model between art, science, technology and business. Together with the public The Universal Sea aims to build a strong network of innovators and change-makers getting as many as 1 million people involved finding creative solutions that fight the plastic epidemic.

The Universal Sea is EU co-funded and links scientific findings with artistic creations offering a new perspective on the pressing issue of marine pollution. The exhibition includes the artworks of the Top 5 finalists of the worldwide open-call as well as the Top 100 artistic proposals. Moreover there will be co-creation workshops, talks, panel discussions and hands-on workshops with the artists.



April 22- June 10 Oronsko, Poland hosted by Center of Polish Sculpture Address: Centre for Polish Sculpture, Topolowa 1, 26-505 Orońsko, Poland

Opening hours: Tue-Fri 10.00 – 17.00, Sat-Sun 10.00 – 18.00

June 5-6, 2018 Helsinki, Finland hosted by Design Factory/ Aalto University

June 9-10, 2018 – Pristina, Kosovo hosted by Doku:TECH

June 21-22, 2018 – Amsterdam, the Netherlands hosted by We Make The City Festival

September 13-14, 2018 – Barcelona, Spain hosted by CCCB (tbc)

September 20-21, 2018 – Venice, Italy, UNESCO Palazzo Zorzi

October 6-7, 2018 – Berlin, Germany hosted by Entrepreneurship Summit

October 1-30, 2018 – Budapest, Hungary, THE UNIVERSAL SEA FESTIVAL hosted by Hybridart Management

I will be present at Barcelona, Venice, Berlin and Budapest as a speaker and workshop facilitator. It would be amazing to see you in one of these cities!

please ♥️

Today is the LAST DAY to ♥️ my artwork at 

http://universal-sea.org/top-100-artworks  

to enter the finalists in The Universal Sea: Pure or Plastic? exhibition opening in Budapest this fall. Simply click the rainbow coloured link above and "like" Broken Dream No.1

O

my garden in bali

green lushness overflowing

bearing fruit

dripping with abundance.

it all comes back to soil. to darkness. 

the kingdom underneath my feet 

you hold me

you always held me

you will forever hold me.

without words. without wanting. without return.

soil. ground. dirt. 

your truth is so much bigger than all our concepts.

may we become empty to see your eternal circles.

wishing you a abundant new year!  gung hei fat shoi!  selamat tahun baru! gesundes neues!

x O x

'2020 lost soles' for microgalleries Jakarta

When we put on shoes we put a sole between our feet and the soil we walk on.

When we put on shoes we put a layer of cushioned culture between us and nature. 

When is the last time you walked barefoot? 

All the 2020 shoes you see here were abandoned in Jakarta last month. Yearly an estimated 16 million flip-slops are thrown away, abandoned or lost in Jakarta alone. Over 8 billion flip-flops (we're only talking flip-flops!) are manufactured worldwide each year. This trash-land-art installation called '2020 lost soles' and is but the tiniest mirror of our throw-away society. A huge THANK YOU goes to Greeneration Indonesia and to waste4change and to EcoBali Recycling for helping to collect the 2020 shoes from the streets and from private households in Jakarta!

microgalleries reclaims disused and forgotten spaces and reactivates them as tiny galleries that are free and accessible to the local community. Bringing together international and local artists, it features work that challenges ingrained ideas, blurs the line between street art and fine art, and aims to help change the way we see the world, our environment and our community – even for a micro moment.

more pics on instagram !

2000 lost soles

Happy World Oceans Day 2017!

2000 abandoned shoes were used to create this 'trash-land-art | 垃圾山水' installation within the past two days leading up to World Oceans Day with the help of an amazing team of friends and support from  PlasticFreeSeas , Ecomarine and  LivingLamma ! These shoes are all marine litter and were collected over the past months on three different beaches on Lantau, the biggest island of Hong Kong. The artist liina klauss creates these beautiful outdoor installations since 2011 as she says "making shit look good" to raise awareness for the pollution of our oceans. 

'2000 lost soles' at Tong Fuk pebble beach, South Lantau, HK

The installation is part of a larger project called '10.000 lost soles' (#10000lostsoles). liina asks schools, corporates and individuals to collect abandoned shoes on beaches, in country parks and in the city of Hong Kong itself until the number of 10.000 is reached. Then an even bigger outburst of colour is waiting to come alive! 

Keilem from Ecomarine helping to paint the blues

Dana and Julia from Plastic Free Seas adding last soles to '2000 lost soles'

HELP COLLECTING!

Collection points are on Lantau Island, Hong Kong:

- Lo Kei Wan Beach

- Tong Fok Pebble Beach

- Tai Long Wan Beach 

Or start your own collection point on a beach near you! If you are a teacher, an enthusiastic hiker, a nature lover or corporate and feel inspired to help, please contact any one of the NGOs: PlasticFreeSeas , Ecomarine,  LivingLamma or the artist directly.

Year 4 students from Rennaissance College in Hong Kong helping to sort the mess

"The heritage of pollution that we pass on to our children is traumatizing. My goal is to give children the possibility to work creatively in nature, seeing and grasping the impact of man-made pollution and finding a creative translation for this trauma with their own two hands. It is by no means the solution. But it is in its own a form of cure and a way to shift awareness."                      (liina klauss)

#10000lostses #lostsoles #flipflops #shoes #withyourowntwohands #curatingthebeach   #plastic #outofhands #marinepollution #marinelitter #marinedebris #plasticocean #pickitup #plasticpollution #pollutionhongkong #marinepollutionhongkong #pollution #awarenessactivismart #artactivism #awareness #consciousness #landart #1000lostsoles #liinaklauss #trashlandart #landart #activismhongkong #landarthongkong #垃圾山水

10.000 lost soles

I'm embarking on a new project! WE are! 

The goal is to collect 10.000 shoes on on shore lines, mountains and forests of Hong Kong. This is a continuation of a land-art project '1.000 lost soles' which started in 2015, where we used 1.000 shoes to create a circle at Pui O wetlands, an endangered eco-system on Lantau Island. It is alarming, to say the least, how over-production and over-consumption in our industrial age has become out of hands. We find human products not only in cities and homes, but floating in the sea, buried in the earth and lost in the landscape of nature.

HELP COLLECTING To be part of a bigger picture. To create awareness to value more and waste less. To be the solution you want to see in the world. To connect.  To simply be in nature. 

Collection points are on Lantau Island, Hong Kong:

- Lo Kei Wan Beach

- Pui O Pebble Beach

- Tai Long Wan Beach

Trash-land-art not only challenges our perception of art but also our behaviour as consumers and responsibility for nature. 

more info and recent pics on my www.facebook.com/artofliinaklauss

#10000lostses #lostsoles #flipflops #shoes #withyourowntwohands #curatingthebeach   #plastic #outofhands #marinepollution #marinelitter #marinedebris #plasticocean #pickitup #plasticpollution #pollutionhongkong #marinepollutionhongkong #pollution #awarenessactivismart #artactivism #awareness #consciousness #landart #1000lostsoles #liinaklauss #trashlandart #landart #activismhongkong #landarthongkong #垃圾山水

nothing is ever lost

I took this photo during the Umbrella Movement and I always felt it to be very special: students at the roots of a huge Banyan tree. For me it represents the strength and connectedness of these young people. I'm honoured to give a talk at "We Gain We Lose", a Multidisciplinary Art Festival, organized by students of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, providing a platform for artists to express their current state of mind in response to the social changes happening in Hong Kong. 

More info on the arts festival here! 

Please register here for my talk 'nothing is ever lost'. The event is FREE and the documentary 'Landscape of Rubbish' by Taiwanese film-maker You-Xue Lin will be screened after my talk followed by public discussion. Very much looking forward to this sharing!

All this is happening at the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre 27/04 until 01/05

My talk is on 30/04 starting at 5pm

another round ....

and another circle is completed  

wishing you a year full of creativity and connection both within and without! 

photograph from the series 'O', lantau island, 2016

Out to Sea? The Plastic Garbage Project

Please be invited to 

Out to Sea? The Plastic Garbage Project

at Hong Kong Science Museum

27th Nov.2015 to 17th Feb.2016

I'm honoured to contribute a Trash-Land-Art installation to the exhibition Out to Sea? The Plastic Garbage Project at the Hong Kong Science Museum. The installation is supported by the ever inspiring HK Youth Arts Foundation and will be displayed from 27.Nov.2015 to 17.Feb.2016. Our installation is called Stains / 污點  and consists of 17 circles of marine litter, each in a different colour. 

The concept for Out to Sea? The Plastic Garbage Project brings together science and art and originates from the Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich. Their exhibition gathers complex facts of plastics and its environmental consequences in an easily understandable way. Art as an intermediator to make scientific facts more juicy and interesting - what an inpiring way to learn! So lots of great reasons for you to visit the HK Science Museum again. 

Hope to see you there!

眼前所見的作品是利用南大嶼山籮箕灣海灘上的廢棄物製作而成。40名來自香港航海學校及圓玄學院妙法寺內明陳呂重德紀念中學的學生在一個白天的時間，已經收集了共28袋的80公升海灘廢棄物，而它們主要來自中國內地及香港本地。環保藝術家liina klauss自2011年開始創作「垃圾山水」系列作品，所有作品只會按照廢棄物的原有顏色、形狀及大小分類，而「污點」是其中一組作品。藝術家希望藉着環境藝術裝置，讓大眾提升減廢的意識。這系列作品不但改變人們對藝術的印象，亦讓人反思人類的消費模式，從而傳達環境保護的信息，並實踐liina所想：「是廢亦是寶，你的看法可改變一切」。

more info on HK Science Musuem here
more info on Plastic Garbage Project here
more pictures of 污點 / Stains here

* on the above photos you see art-awareness-activists from Hong Kong Sea School and The Yuen Yuen Institute MFBM Nei Ming Chan Lui Chung Tak Memorial College helping to create 'Stains'. I would like to thank them for their hard work and passion to change the world with their own two hands!

in-spired

the hongkong air is extremely polluted the past couple of days. my daughter has developed a slight form of asthma because of it. it makes me cry.
i see, smell, touch, taste, hear and feel the world around me. 

i am not happy for my children, for myself or for anyone, to breath in polluted air, to swim in an ocean of plastic, to walk on concreted soil. i am not happy to see the earth filled up with indigestible waste. i am not happy to feed my children toxic food. i am not happy to be part of the destruction. 

yet it is our choice. we made the choice to live this way.

we gave velocity & mobility priority over slowness and quiet. convenience over simplicity. cleanliness over soil and sweat. safety over adventure. concepts over spontaneity. 

we planed, designed, calculated, manufactured and created this future we're living in now.

it is still our choice, every single moment we have the choice.
a pilot friend of mine told me in his 15-years career he's seen beijing for the first time from above. literally. seen the city. for once there was no smog. the reason was 'golden week', a nation wide holiday when all factories are shut down for a continuous period of 7 days.
the change is always here and now! in fact it can only be here and now.

walk barefoot. drink from a mountain stream. eat fresh fruits from a tree. let nature feed you. close your eyes and look into the sun. see the colours. smell the grass. feel the wind.

blaming others is not the answer. blaming yourself is not the answer. both are destructive and wasting creative energy. 
i don't want to make a grouchy face like in this photo anymore !

we are capable of so much more.

we are and only we can be the solution.

anytime. 

any place. 

any person. 

all change starts within.