Speaking of litter

Billboard, with "art" constructed from litter removed from the beach at Redondo Beach, California. Image from the Deep Fun blog.

While doing some image research, I came across this, from the Bernie DeKoven's Deep Fun blog's October 2005 archive:

This billboard is right around the corner from my house. It is depressingly beautiful. Depressing, because it is composed totally of litter found on the beach (can you find the shopping cart). But beautiful. By day. By night. A glorious piece of art. A testimony to the human capacity for both sensitivity and insensitivity.

After much mucking, I finaly discovered that the creation of this billboard was sponsored by the Surfrider Foundation. They explain:

"The Redondo Beach board went up on September 19, 2005, on Pacific Coast Highway and Ave. G in Redondo Beach. This beach clean up took place on August 21, 2005, as a joint effort on behalf of Surfrider Foundation's local chapter and Saatchi & Saatchi LA volunteers who helped clean the beach since it's the agency's local beach.

Amongst the waste found were refrigerator doors, fast-food trays, ladders, 50-gallon drums, buoys, broken beach chairs and umbrellas, bike racks plus such common trash as cans, plastic bottles and bags. The billboard was designed and built by outdoor specialists Scenario Design who mounted the trash on the board that will have a month shelf life. The understated yet impactful copy reads: Found on (Redondo Beach), August 20, 2005."

According to a story in the local paper,

"The project was the brainchild of two surfers who work at Saatchi & Saatchi: LA, Art Director Michael Reginelli and Associate Creative Director/Copywriter Felipe Bascope. Reginelli comes from the relatively clean waters and beaches of Hawaii, and during the course of their workdays together he would often complain to Bascope, an Orange County native, about the quality of the beaches in Southern California."

And the thing is, all that trash, it's, well, like I said, along with the message, and the mess, it's art, it really is. And it's fun, even.

Index Keywords: quality-of-life-advocacy