GENT.- Our vast oceans are indecently filled with tons of plastic garbage. And it does not get better, on the contrary. The exhibition ‘Out to Sea? The Plastic Garbage Project’ created by Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, dissects the different components of this distasteful plastic soup. Immediately the visitor is confronted by an immense heap of garbage. He then continues his way via the different ingredients of this minestrone. The composition, application and life span of plastic materials are fed to the mind piece by piece.

Playful but insisting Design museum Gent enriches this instructive tale with a large portion of hopeful design, from recycling via upcycling to ecodesign. The story develops like a spider’s web that reaches beyond the museum walls. The visitor is encouraged to continue his discovery of ecodesign in the streets of Ghent and on the world wide web.

Confrontation
Design museum Gent formulates this exhibition like a confronting question, without imposing a definitive answer. Is a large production really that necessary? Are there alternatives for plastic? Can discarded plastic get a second life? Or is plastic still a suitable material? Controversy in a plastic mould?

An uneasy depiction
Immediately on entering the exhibition the visitor wades through a sea of plastic garbage. Staggering across a network of wooden jetties he discovers different islands where plastics live or revive. The drifter floats on an ever expanding wave, garbage all around him. There is no escape. It promises to be an uncomfortable exhibition, dotted with islands of peace covered in information and objects.