It's All Plastic, All the Time at The Plastic Bag Store
WDCB’s Gary Zidek visits the Chicago-edition of The Plastic Bag Store.
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“It’s definitely not about making people feel bad, I don’t necessarily want to put the honus on individuals. I think it’s about giving people context, thinking about it in a deeper way and about how we are part of this long chain of human history. And that even though something is ‘disposable’, that’s kind of a myth, it’s a closed system, and thinking about ourselves in this long chain of human history, and being connected to the past and the future by the things that people leave behind.” - Artist Robin Frohardt talking about what she hopes visitors take away from The Plastic Bag Store experience.
Artist & The Plastic Bag Store creator Robin Frohardt
If you’re walking down Michigan Avenue and stumble upon a storefront on the first floor of the Wrigley Building, you might think you’ve found a new grocery market. But upon closer examination. you’ll notice that everything in the space is actually made out of plastic bags. That’s because you’re inside The Plastic Bag Store.
The “store” isn’t a real market, visitors will encounter something that’s part art installation and part theatrical experience. The project was created by Brooklyn-based artist Robin Frohardt and is in town as part of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, which continues through January 30.
The Plastic Bag Store aims to raise our collective awareness of the enduring effects of single-use plastics. The thought-provoking experience takes a light-handed approach, using humor to draw attention to some pretty depressing facts regarding our plastics consumption.
The Plastic Bag Store is currently on display on the first floor of the Wrigley Building through the end of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival on 1/30. You can find out more information about the installation/theater experience at theplasticbagstore.com
Visitors can drop a piece of plastic in the plastic time machine to see what happens to plastic over time. Not much.
