SAVE OUR SEAS 

Save Our Seas is a joint project with the Science Festival, focusing on the environmental problems facing our sea life and oceans. 

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 Concept Statement-

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For my project into water pollution I want to focus on water waste in the textiles industry, with particular focus on China as the world’s largest textiles industry. The chemicals and dyes used within the production of clothes are extremely harmful to the environment and the people living with the contaminated rivers as their only water source. Using costumes inspired by the Tang dynasty, and era that was considered China’s ‘Golden Age’, I want to convey how this dye and use of chemicals in not only killing the wildlife and marine creatures, but can affect the oceans and worlds water on a larger scale. the way the water is disposed of and the chemicals used is the problem.

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The exhibitions will be conveyed through a fashion show of sorts. The stage will be set up with a central stage of a whirlpool, with rivers branching off into the darkness. The audience will sit in between these rivers, so it is as if the costumes are weaving their way through the audience as they com onto the stage. The seating for the audience will be beanbags made of recycled microplastics and recycled fabrics. From the ceiling there will be hanging garments that are dye stained and worn out to illustrate the scale of the problem but also so the audience can relate more to seeing a dyed t- shirt that they would wear as opposed to the Hanfu worn by the characters.

Each character will weave onto stage, displaying their dye covered costume and telling the audience facts about textiles production in China and the adverse impacts it is having on the water systems. Each character will enter through one ‘river’ and exit via another, with the following costume coming from different points to the last. I want them to be a continues stream of costumes and dialogue so it acts much like a water system.

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When all the pollution facts have been conveyed, the costumes will weave through the audience again, this time talking about ways the audience can help to improve the levels of pollution, such as buying sustainably or from second hand stores. As each costume approaches the whirlpool centre, they transform in some way- each costume having a different transformation. This may be taking off a coat and reversing it or removing a skirt to reveal another underneath. The transformations will be the removal of the dye from the costume to reveal the clean pure water systems of the future. They will then all exit the stage.