Sea Turtle Trash
Creating sculptures out of junk was definitely not on my list of expectations for my first class in grad school. As I rummage through a pile of single-use containers, I’m trying to find which would work best to represent an animal on the endangered species list. I didn’t know what animal, which ones were on the verge of extinction, and why I drank so much seltzer.
In order to collect my thoughts I sat down and pulled up the “red list” from the IUCN to choose an animal and focus. The red list is a compendium of threatened, endangered, and extinct species with specific criteria to classify each animal’s conservation status. I looked at mammals like the American Bison, fish like the Bluefin Tuna, or even bivalve such as the Fan Mussel. While cycling between animals and my pile of trash, a plastic takeout container seemed to emerge as the body for a Hawksbill Sea Turtle. Being Monday afternoon with only hours remaining, I didn’t have time to waste. Like many art projects, it was more important to act than wait for inspiration.
…I didn’t have time to waste. Like many art projects, it was more important to act than wait for inspiration.
I jumped into the Hawksbill’s profile on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) site and began to gather research. I learned the primary cause of their endangered status is not plastic straws, but unintended capture or “bycatch” from fishing boats. During this process the turtles can suffer all kinds of debilitating injuries that can lead to death. Other primary threats are poaching due to their shells or eggs and loss/degradation of nesting and foraging habitats.
After doing sufficient research I jumped into building my prototype. The first step was to do some sketches. The first portion was sketching the actual turtle as it appeared naturally, which gave me a more intimate understanding of its anatomy and shape.
I paid particular attention to key aspects that would set it apart such as its beak and flippers. I then sketched the turtle as it would look if made out of trash I had on-hand. I started with the flippers as I figured they would be the hardest. I used some leftover fabric from shoes I had recently disposed of. I had cut the tongue of the shoes out and salvaged their laces. I used my projector to display anatomical drawings of the flippers and traced them for cutting out. I made a mistake here of not mirroring the flipper and almost cut two identical copies. I noticed before cutting but not before marking. This left one set of flippers with extra marks. The flippers also began splitting without their seams and some quick sewing managed to keep them intact. I cut slits into a black takeout container to act as the body and stuffed the flippers inside.
After that, I used a paper towel tube to create the head by cutting intricate slits and folding them over to create curves and the turtle’s iconic beak. From there, I used the leftover tube to create a shell pattern. I tried to use a glue stick to attach them to the black container as a body but it didn’t work. I then reached for my favorite adhesive, hot glue. It performed as expected holding the cardboard cutouts as a makeshift shell. The hot glue also worked great for attaching the head and the rough build was complete. Well almost…the finishing touch was a set of google eyes, because they make everything better.
I then went on to stuff the turtle with some other items that represented major threats like a makeshift fishing net, an egg, a dollar and a plastic straw. To finish the project I setup some lighting to take photos of my creation. I taped the turtle to a curtain rod with painters tape, filmed it on a blue screen, and composited into some stock footage to bring it to life.
This completed my endangered species prototype project. I wasn’t expecting to do a sea turtle and actually passed over it several times at first. However, once the connection stood out to me, I knew I had to proceed.
…sometimes revisiting ideas with new information can be helpful and reinforce the iterative nature of design…
This shows that sometimes revisiting ideas with new information can be helpful and reinforce the iterative nature of design, sometimes starting as early as the initial idea.
