Client

Overview

Miami-based artist, Federico Uribe, has been inspired by the overwhelming amount of plastic, utilizing it as an artistic production has increasingly become ubiquitous with our everyday existence. Its presence has overflowed into our immediate lived environments and the abstract wilderness that surrounds us. It is everywhere. As the modern world has developed, our reliance on plastic has incurred our own decay, creating critical need for immediate action and alternative solutions. Due to his proximity to the coast, Federico Uribe has personally witnessed the increasing tons of plastic that persist in the oceans and harm aquatic ecosystems. Uribe uses these everyday items such as forks, bottles, cartons, and even flip-flops to build the grand-scale project; individual gestures of an ambitious installation that is both bright and beautiful. Uribe works to carefully collect, cut, and arrange hundreds of plastic pieces to playfully visualize an underwater world, while confronting the fragility of it. Plastic Reef, in its entirety, was previously exhibited during the 2019 Venice Biennale where it spanned 2,000 square feet. The Delaware Contemporary is excited to host this transformed immersive environment on a smaller scale.

Goals

The aim of the exhibition is to raise awareness on the impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems worldwide. From a distance the assemblages appear to be colorful underwater worlds. Up close, it is hundreds of pieces of plastic, carefully cut and arranged.
The installation– which bursts with colors and transports
into an underwater tropical oasis - confronts the viewer with
the fragility of life.

Process

I have been working closely with all stakeholders involved, with on-site visits and frequent contacts with the museum staff. My team and myself cooperated under my supervision to create the final installation.