Bottled
Type: Multi Location Art Installation
Role: Project Manager, The Kefi Project
Client: Students Promoting Environmental Awareness and Responsibility (SPEAR) and SustainVU.
Location: Nashville, TN
Status: Completed, April 2014
Project Details
An exploration of water and the plastic that often contains it - Composed of over 2,228 plastic water bottles collected from the Vanderbilt campus, the three installations that make up Bottled explores the many components of this liquid integral to our existence. The pieces were located in Sarratt Student Center, Olin Lawn, and along the construction fence on Vanderbilt Place. Respecting the environment and the medium, all of the projects were recycled after the installation. Launched on March 22, 2014 (World Water Day), each piece had its own distinctive message, ranging from sustainability on campus to the limited access of clean water around the globe. While we are glad to see that these bottles are being recycled, ultimately we hope that this number will one day become zero in order to create a truly sustainable campus. The Bottled installation shows how the struggle for sustainability can be represented through one of its significant obstacles: plastic bottles.
Respecting the environment and the medium, all of the projects were recycled after the installation. Launched on March 22, 2014 (World Water Day), each piece had its own distinctive message, ranging from sustainability on campus to the limited access of clean water around the globe. While we are glad to see that these bottles are being recycled, ultimately we hope that this number will one day become zero in order to create a truly sustainable campus. The Bottled installation shows how the struggle for sustainability can be represented through one of its significant obstacles: plastic bottles.
The Installations
Bottled: Towers - We live in a country where the water that flows from our taps is cleaner than that in the bottles most of us can afford to buy. It was easy to fill these bottles with clean water, and for no cost. Yet on our planet, 780 million people living in Africa, Asia, and even sometimes parts of the US do not have access to safe water. As the water refracts the lights behind it, we ask you to reflect on how water, or the lack thereof, touches every aspect of human life
Bottled: Wave - We use water constantly. Whether you’re singing in the shower or talking on the phone, you use water. The generation of energy often heavily relies on water, affecting the ecosystem in sometimes radical ways.
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, thermoelectric plants make up 39% of all water withdrawals in the US, second to irrigation and livestock. When addressing our personal environmental impact, we often see water and energy as two separate resources, rather than as an interconnected system. Bottled: Wave uses water bottles, a familiar unit, to present one’s daily use of water, contextualizing the water-energy nexus.
Bottled: Chandelier - Vanderbilt constantly continues to make university life more sustainable. Bottled: Chandelier consists of 250 water bottles, all of which were provided by the Sustainability and Environmental Management Office. Of the 60 million gallons of water saved every year, 28 million is due to the use of low flow, high performance showerheads. This chandelier demonstrates the intersection between art, function, and sustainability—a fusion for which our community should strive.
The Story of stuff: Bottled Water
The Story of Bottled Water, released on March 22, 2010 (World Water Day) employs the Story of Stuff style to tell the story of manufactured demand—how you get Americans to buy more than half a billion bottles of water every week when it already flows from the tap.