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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2019)
A6 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2019 Artists: Show will be on display until Sunday Continued from Page A1 “I invited them in with the word ‘fugitive,’” Schleif said. “Plastics have a fugitive quality … able to leach into us, leach into water, break down, change.” That word sparked inspiration for the artists, who joined to create a three- part show in which none of the materi- als — not even the rusty screws hold- ing the artwork together or the wooden table displaying their business cards — were purchased. “We each had our own process,” Schleif said, “and we had a community process between the three of us.” The show will be on display until Sunday . Across from the blooming hope garden, in the middle of the room, sits a large, unwieldy sculpture. Com- prised of sun-bleached S tyrofoam, held together with white straps and fas- tened to an orange frame, it’s a mas- sive, wearable backpack. Beside it lies an even larger object: a faded white- and-blue kayak with a catapult con- traption mounted on its deck, both cre- ated by Stetzel. “There’s defi nitely a thread between both of these pieces,” she said “They’re big and they’re awkward and I struggle with them.” Both pieces speak to major focus points in her life, she said. The kayak specifi cally addresses her fi xation on communication. “One of the cares I have cur- rently,” Stetzel said, “is the frustra- tion with wanting to communicate across divides, across borders, through boundaries. That’s what this contrap- tion is. It’s this odd, ridiculous, poten- tially ill-fi tting contraption that would hopefully launch communication.” Behind the kayak, a grid-like dis- play of single-use plastic trays hang from the wall. Beach ball sized sea urchins made of buoys and hundreds of plastic pipettes are on display nearby, propped up on old tomato cages from a local garden. The display was created by Jones, who volunteers with the Surfrider Foundation . For years, she has worked with high school science students to collect and sample water from local waterways. For every test site , the teams use two plastic bottles, a plas- tic pipette and a plastic sample tray. All the materials can only be used once before they’re thrown away. “We test multiple times a month,” Jones said. “You can imagine how much trash that was making.” She couldn’t bring herself to throw so much plastic away. Instead, she saved everything, and now they com- prise her fi rst installation project. The collection process also led to new fund- ing. The Surfrider F oundation recently received a grant to replace plastic with glass equipment for testing in Seaside labs, according to Jones. “They’re single use — you’re sup- posed to throw them away,” Stetzel said of the old science materials, “but she decided she wasn’t going to, and then change happened as a result.” All three of the artists are happy to see changes being made. “Wherever humans and nature meets, there’s stuff — there’s residue, there’s trash,” Stetzel said. “Yes, this is specifi c to this area, but a lot of what we’re fi nding is marine debris that you can fi nd in any industrial waterway. S o unfortunately, I would say it is con- nected to other places too.” At the same time, there’s a regional feel to the display. “These things could be other places,” said Schleif, “but I feel like the Columbia is kind of rolling through the pieces.” Dawn Stetzel with her art project. Where: Liberty Theatre, Astoria, Oregon When: Saturday, October 12, Doors open 6:30 p.m. Show at 7:00 p.m. All tickets: General Admission $25 in advance, $35 day of show On Sale Now libertyastoria.showare.com or Liberty Theatre Box Office