Climate-Themed Plastic Jesus Christ Created Out Of Collected Bottles For Ta’ Pinu, Gozo
A project aimed at turning Malta’s litter problem into artwork is working on an unique creation: a recycled plastic Jesus Christ.
The Cast-Out Project is all about refocusing efforts on the environment to help safeguard it for future generations – and they have big plans.
“Working with local people, we are building a huge art installation; a climate-themed sculpture of Jesus Christ to be placed outside of Ta’ Pinu,” Jo Curtis from the Cast-Out Project told Lovin Malta.
“It’s made from thousands of litter and plastic drink bottles picked up and community-collected,” she continued. “It is a positive way to get locals recycling and to care for their environment more, working to help us build a giant work of art!”
Joseph Barbara, artist and environmentalist
Maltese artist and environmentalist Joseph Barbara is designing the incredible 4.5m x 4m art installation – to be displayed outside Ta’ Pinu in Gozo from September 2021.
He uses a method where the plastic is shrunk and fit into a design. Planned to be up for three months, the installation can be easily dismantled when the time comes to remove it.
“Almost everything used to build the art is already being fully recycled,” Curtis. “The space frame that the artwork is slotted into, is kindly being designed by Pillow Space Frames Ltd in Ħal Far and they are recycling metal rods from the canopy used for Pope John Paul II when he last visited Malta!”
Locals have been donating their used plastic bottles and taking part in clean-ups to help source littered plastic bottles, amassing the 3,000 bottles needed to build the huge bas-relief sculpture of Christ which, they hope, will spur on locals to protect the created world.
https://www.facebook.com/CastOutMalta/photos/137328665210094
The team hopes the sculpture will become a major tourist attraction in Gozo, encouraging onlookers to protect the planet while demonstrating the scale of our plastic consumption.
The Cast-Out Project is a Ministry for Gozo funded campaign, in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London Malta Campus and the European Parliament Liaison Office in Malta. The project is also linking with Malta’s Din l-Art Ħelwa Mellieħa group, so that single-use plastic bottles from clean up’s in Malta can be incorporated into the artwork too.
What do you think of this unique project in Gozo?
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