Sam’s Visit to the Great Barrier Reef and the Art Gallery

Works of Art in the exhibition Disquiet: Ecological Anxieties and Transformations, interrogate the ecological impacts of marine and coastal plastic pollution. Research Background: Research shows that discarded plastics now contaminate the diets of 90% of marine bird species, as well as turtles and seals (Diaz, 2018). Plastic never disappears; it simply breaks up into microplastics, forming an underwater “smog” affecting everything from plankton to human aquaculture (Cox, 2019). As people are the sole source of plastic pollution Changing human behaviour is key to transform the current ecological disquiet. The problem of educating community members about the threat posed by plastic pollution is addressed in this research. Research Contribution: The travelling exhibition Disquiet: Ecological Anxieties and Transformations, by artists Robyn Glade-Wright and Barbara Dover render visible the harm caused by plastic in works that educate through the engagement of the imagination. The works of art are made for plastic waste collected on Far North Queensland beaches. They answer the research problem by presenting original artefacts that transform understandings and reveal ideas and connections in a new form. Community engagement activities that support the exhibition included: a catalogue, an artist talk, a children’s art and four stories that were distributed to schools, suitable for infant, primary, high school and senior high school levels. Research Significance: The exhibition will be viewed by 45,000 people. The significance of the work is indicated feedback from Mackay where by 82% of the 540 responses rated it as very good or excellent. The exhibition attracted $19,400 in a touring grant. The works contributes to understandings of effective environmental communication in the arts.