This year's "Totally Thames" (previously known as the "Thames Festival") is currently in full swing. It is London's last large event of the year and before the winter kicks in. This year's event is lower key than previous years, and the artwork is scaled down when compared with previous years, but it still highlights the impact of water and environmental concerns. In previous years, we had the Hippo on the Thames, "Floating Dreams" cube in the river featuring those who were displaced during the Korean Wars, and a few horse sculptures that were shaped like oil wells to highlight environmental concerns.
This year's smaller scale piece is located out of the water and makes appearances at different riverside locations across London until the end of the month. I caught the installation while it was at St. Katherine's Docks. The artwork, by Maria Areco, depicts several boxes of pollution. These have been organised by colour or by item type (clear plastic bottles, bottle tops, traffic furniture, balls, etc). The selection highlights the issue of river pollution with an estimate of more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. All of the items were picked up by the artist along the Thames.
The installation will be shown at Brentford until 20 September and then at Canary Wharf from the 22nd until the 30th of September.
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