Description
By Elizabeth Solich, oil on canvas, recycled materials (2020)
Size 40x50cm
The famous white-sand beaches of Hawaii, come from the poop of parrotfish. The fish bite and scrape algae off of rocks and dead corals with their parrot-like beaks, grind up the inedible calcium-carbonate reef material in their guts, and then excrete it as sand. Parrot fish cannot digest synthetic hair. Composed of ultra-fine strands of plastic, and the petrochemical-derived materials such as polyester, acrylic, and PVC, synthetic hair are not biodegradable. This means that they ultimately end up in the landfills or ocean and contribute further to our global waste problem. Some negative effects that scientists have discovered when fish consume plastic include reduced activity rates and weakened schooling behaviour, as well as compromised liver function. Most distressingly for people, toxic compounds that are associated with plastic transfer to and bioaccumulate in fish tissues.
