Three Whimsical Structures at Payson Park, Portland,Tell the Story of the Bottom of the Ocean’s Content With the Artist’s Hope of Raising Awareness on Environmental Issues
One of the Three Art Installations at Payson Park, Portland.
A Close up Shows the Fishing Gear From Which These Installations are Made.
From a distance, these three whimsical structures can be a puzzle to many. But a close up look at them tells the simple story about environmental issues – that is about “ghost gear” that is found at the bottom of our oceans. The colorful temporary installation was installed at Payson Park, Portland, in June and is scheduled to remain in place until 2023 according to a press release issued by Red Art Projects, Maureen Sullivan, Executive Director.
The three installations were created from over 10 tons of fishing gear salvaged from the bottom of the Gulf of Maine by Maine artist Pam Moulton and over 5,000 volunteers who collaborated with her on this project. That fishing gear includes trawling nets, ropes, lobster traps and other fishing year salvaged from the ocean’s bottom.
Moulton stated: “These are sensory sculptures and I hope people will touch, crawl and picnic under them and marvel that these materials were just recently lost and haunting the bottom of the ocean. I’m happy that many willl enjoy the art simply for its beauty and whimsy…I hope it will additionally inspire some to …..get actively involved in the deeper underlying environmental issues.”
When Payson Park neighbor Ethan Howland first saw them back in June, he thought they looked like aliens from another planet he told this blogger this afternoon. “They appeared out of nowhere and I thought they were friendly visitors with a message for us. The message for us is bleblorp,” he said.
“It’s an amazing installation. Public art is so important. This installation tells the public of the wasted material that is going into the ocean. It’s doing it in a beautiful way and getting the public to stop and take notice,” said David Sipe who was visiting the installation this afternoon. Sipe is the executive director of the Harrison based, lightsoutart.com.
“About 10% of lobster traps (280,000) and fishing equipment are sunk at the bottom of the Gulf of Maine each year and an estimated 600,000 tons of fishing gear are added to the oceans annually worldwide, harming sea life and the fishing industry in coastal towns,” according to a report by CBS TV, last fall. Maybe it’s time for the fishing industry to start cleaning up its bottom!
Artist Moulton has showed her work extensively in France as well as in the United States. She earned her Bachelor of Studio Art from the University of Vermont and Villa Arson in Nice France. TEMPO Art champions and commissions public art in Portland. It was founded in 2015 by Alice Spencer. The non-profit’s first art installation was about housing in Lincoln Park.