Plastic Free Hong Kong: Beach Clean-up X Social Sculpture Collective Art
無塑香港：淨灘 X 社會雕塑集體創作 4-5 FEBRUARY, 2023 Yuen Chau Tsai, Tai Po Funded by Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Office, CUHK
Plastic Free Hong Kong:
Beach Clean-up X Social Sculpture Collective Art
無塑香港：淨灘 X 社會雕塑集體創作
4-5 FEBRUARY, 2023
Yuen Chau Tsai, Tai Po
Funded by Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Office, CUHK
Social Sculpture
Think about it: can a sculpture only be an object that stands in the center of a roundabout, or in the lobby of a museum? Can it only commemorate a historical figure, or a day on the calendar? Can we imagine a sculpture that responds to society and creates a statue for an issue we care about? Such a sculpture is no longer just an object.
Disposable culture has unfortunately become part of our daily life, not only bringing serious plastic pollution to our society, but also causing irreversible damage to the ecology. When active citizens are at the beach, they often find disposable masks, lunch boxes, Styrofoam, food wrappers, and plastic bags, many of which are washed into the ocean and then washed ashore. We hope to imagine our relationship with society by using the trash that we pick up at the seaside, the objects that once gave us convenience. With these social debris, we create a sculpture that responds to ourselves and to society.
PROJECT
SCHEDULE
計劃時間表
In 2023 February, our centre held a beach clean-up activity with the Centre for Cultural Studies, CUHK. There are many beach clean-up activities held by various NGOs and individuals in Hong Kong. We are facing a serious plastic pollution problem over the world. In fact, the one-day beach clean-up activity only resolves a minor part of the problem. How to map the specific localized visible problems to an overall big picture of the plastic pollution problem?
We had invited a beach clean-up professional and a community artist to the event. Participants used the waste collected on the seashores as resources and reimagine their relationship between the environment and society by co-creation of social sculpture. Through the experience of the beach clean-up session and the process of co-creation of social sculpture with the participants, we brought up the reflection on plastic pollution.
EVENT
Guest
工作坊嘉賓
Michael Leung
梁志剛
Michael is an artist/designer, researcher and university lecturer. Born in London and moved to Hong Kong in 2009, he has engaged in a diverse range of creative work, from working as a street vendor to participating in urban farming projects, from writing fiction to social practice.
梁志剛：藝術家／設計師，研究員和大學講師。出生於倫敦，2009年移居香港，他從事的創作十分多樣，從當街巿小販到參與城巿農耕計劃，從寫小說到社會實踐。梁志剛是「據點。句點」和「果邊」的一份子，而後者是共享印刷的一份子。(梁志剛短篇小說: 塑膠灘)
Yeungs
大便妹
Yeungs has stayed in Taiwan to participate in marine environmental education and research on marine waste pollution. His favorite marine animal is whale shark, and he has participated in whale shark research in the Marine Conservation Philippines.
She is deeply interested in the hermit crabs in Hong Kong and is working hard to document the species of hermit crabs in Hong Kong. She has returned to Hong Kong in recent years and now works as an environmental educator. In her spare time, she actively shares information about the ocean and environmental protection on online platforms. I hope to bring people closer to the ocean, so that more people can learn more about the ocean, understand it and protect it.
大便妹：曾留台參與海洋環境教育的工作，同時研究海洋廢棄物污染問題，最喜歡的海洋物物是鯨鯊，曾參與菲律賓海洋生物保育機構的鯨鯊研究工作。對香港的寄居蟹深感興趣，正努力記錄香港的寄居蟹品種。近年回港，現職環境教育師，閒餘積極在網絡平台上分享海洋或環保信息。希望可以拉近人跟海洋的距離，讓更多人認識海洋、了解海洋、守護海洋。
（IG @imsheeppoo )
Beach
Clean
-up
@Yuen Chau Tsai
淨灘
@大埔元洲仔
YUEN CHAU TSAI (元洲仔)
Collected
Waste
@Yuen Chau Tsai
收集到的『垃圾』
clean-up
record
當日淨灘紀錄
當日淨灘成果計入「我的山海日誌」行動紀錄。（「我的山海日誌」計劃由香港大學環境管理學碩士課程學生發起，其結合淨灘/淨山行動、公民科學、環境教育，期望透過每次活動讓參加者了解山間/海洋廢棄物議題。）
Results collected in the clean-up were recorded by ‘My Nature Diary’ project. ‘My Nature Diary’ combines beach / mountain cleanup, citizen science and environmental education. Through every cleanup event, participants can learn about the concrete issues of marine and mountain debris. The project was initiated by students of the Master of Science in Environmental Management at the University of Hong Kong for project and academic purposes.
Brand Survey
品牌記錄調查
品牌紀錄調查是淨灘活動中重要的一環，確保淨灘的後續長效影響，並推動企業做出轉變行動。此次淨灘收集最多的項目都來自餐飲垃圾，其中以維他、可口可樂、Watson等品牌產品為主，可見該類品牌的主導，亦需要社會推動企業豎立責任。
The brand survey is an important part of the beach cleanup campaign to ensure the long-term impact of the cleanup and to motivate companies to make changes. The largest number of items collected at the beach were from food and beverage waste, with brands such as Vita, Coca-Cola, Watson outnumbered others. It shows that these brands are leading the way in marine pollution and that the whole social community needs to promote corporate responsibility.
SOCIAL
SCULPTURE
COLLECTIVE
ART
@Yuen Chau Tsai
社會雕塑創作
The Clock
On the helipad, Jules team first built a no-smoking sign with plastic bottles with a sense of activism. During the collective art-making, we expanded the circle further, with the wasted plastic barrels enclosing the middle slash, leaving the rest of the space to be filled with other waste. At this point, artist Michael’s drone captured a panoramic view of the helipad from above which shaped like a giant concentric clock. We further had our bodies be part of this art. We divided 12 of the 17 people to play the human clock; 3 to play the minute hand and 2 to play the hour hand; the drone filmed the walking of the hour hand going around the circle. Each time the hour hand went, the waste under our feet would be moved out by other teammates. Finally, as it started to drizzle, the work ended with us waving our hands together.
「減塑Change Makers培訓工作坊」
、朱漢強 (綠惜地球) 
