Imperfectly Known Animals | SCôP Moments X Prix Pictet

Beyond Drifting：Imperfectly Known Animals

Mandy Barker，2017 Prix Pictet  [SPACE]

Ophelia Medustica

Specimen collected from Glounthaune shoreline, Cove or Cork, Ireland
(Pram wheel)

Plankton forms a diverse group of microscopic marine organisms living in the water column. Unable to swim against the current they exist in a drifting, floating state. They rank way down at the bottom of the food chain, but are important food sources for many large organisms that affect marine and human life. However, the total amount of plastic produced since 1950 is about 5 billion tons. By the end of this century, this amount is very likely to reach 30 billion tons. Current scientific research has found that plankton ingests tiny plastic particles and mistakes them for food.

In 2012, photographer Mandy Barker received an environmental bursary from the Royal Photographic Society, which allowed her to conduct research studies with scientists to examine the accumulation of plastic garbage in the ocean.

The series of image samples taken by photographer Mandy Barker is "specimens" made from recycled plastic fragments-Barbie arms; tricycles, etc. Take this as a metaphor for the ubiquity of plastics in the Anthropocene era we currently live in. In addition, Barker used outdated film and a defective camera to take this series of images to highlight the "imperfections" of technology and themes. The particles of the film are deliberately visible as a metaphor for the ingested microplastic particles. This series of images were shot in surrounding black space, reminiscent of the deep ocean.

This work represents the pollution of plastic particles in the natural environment, reducing the problem of the imperfect world into a miniature.