Coastal Debris

Tide Chandelier by Stuart Haygarth

detail, Tide Chandelier

An ornate handle made from the end of a toy horse.
Artist Gerd Rohling-Images from World of Interiors. Date unknown.

Gerd Rohling

Goblets by Gerd Rohling

my little basket of beach loot

I was a little disappointed when I found out it was illegal to take shells from the beaches in Hawaii. I understand, however I didn't see any rules about the driftwood or my new favorite-beach plastic! Its pretty strange and quite sad to find that sea glass and shells have been replaced by tumbled sea plastic. I found some pretty colorful stuff-my favorites were the unidentifiable tumbled globs. I never saw plastic on the beaches near Savannah, but I never found many shells there either. I've been dumb to the fact that this has been happening all over for some time now. I found this sea debris chandelier via SFGirlbyBay. Artist Stuart Haygarth has been collecting reams of debris near his home on the English coastline which he now recycles into amazing light fixtures. See the respective article on CasaSugar.
A favorite artist that works with sea plastic is Gerd Rohling (Berlin). He creates new vessels from plastic that appear to be artifacts misplaced from the antiquities room. Look closely at his "archaeological finds" and you will begin to recognize some familiar shapes such as the tail end of a pink yard flamingo or a coke bottle. The images I found are from an article that appeared in The World of Interiors (I think!) a few years ago. The works are backlit to show off their opalescence and the aged-by-the-sea patina that make these "trashy" works seem so precious.