Search icon

News

26th Dec 2019

New Temple Bar street art highlights our overuse of plastic

Brian Dillon

Sustainability is at the forefront of many of our minds. And if it isn’t, this piece of street art should remind you.

One of the ways people are becoming more sustainable is by greatly reducing their use of plastic. Because it’s no lie how harmful it is.

And this collective of street artists, designers, filmmakers and curators known as SUBSET wants to highlight that with their new installation in Dublin’s Temple Bar.

“We have created a multifaceted artwork campaign with the intention to force the consideration of the climate emergency – in particular, plastic pollution.”

Produced as part of a collaboration with The Temple Bar Company, Climate III popped up on Temple Bar’s ESB building earlier this month, and its message is clear.

subset street art in Temple Bar

Explaining the importance of highlighting this issue, the creators said, “The purpose of our campaign is to explore and force consideration of the ubiquity of microplastic in modern society. We are using our abilities as a collective to bring the issue of microplastic pollution into stark relief, primarily through large format artwork.”

They added, “The artwork design employs shapes found in microscopic images of sand, water and plastics. Abstract lines fracture the flow and represent the obtrusive nature of plastic. The work is tied together with a striking visual of a fish entrapped in a plastic bag, enticing viewers to navigate the installation.

“We feel that there is potential for this mural to represent a powerful reminder of the cycle of creation and consumption of plastic in Ireland and beyond.”

subset street art in Temple Bar

subset street art in Temple Bar

SUBSET is known for creating some incredible street art installations around the city, and this one is the largest and most prominent mural they have created to date in Ireland.

The artwork comprises the final phase of their Climate series, a campaign in which they created their biggest mural ever for CRUSH Walls Festival, and curated an exhibition in the Royal Hibernian Academy.

READ NEXT: Mad scenes as doors open for the Brown Thomas sale this morning

Topics: