Hannah Holmes
Undergraduate, Graphic Design
What a Catch
Video, flute, fish net made of recycled trash
By using bags that were destined for landfills or the ocean, What a Catch explores the concept of reusing trash for something constructive and useful. The process for creating the net was twisting plastic with an electric drill, tying the pieces together, and learning how to make a net. In Pensacola, FL, I captured this narrative of a fisherman saddened by the trash on the beach. The piece was partially inspired by the beautiful wildlife I’ve seen in the Gulf and in fact, while we were shooting the video, we saw several stingrays in the water. My goal for this project was to create art that normal people, not just art critics or historians, can appreciate and understand. Additionally, by catching people in the plastic net, What a Catch explores the struggles of sea animals who get stuck in plastic in the ocean. My hope for this piece is that it calls attention to the large amount of waste we produce (4.4 lbs. a day, EPA study 2013). By creating a humorous, documentary-styled video, I strived to start conversations about waste and its effects on other species.