Environment

Surreal Strawpocalypse installation arranges thousands of plastic straws as crashing waves

Surreal Strawpocalypse installation arranges thousands of plastic straws as crashing waves
Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong's Strawpocalypse installation
Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong's Strawpocalypse installation
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Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
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Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong at work on his Strawpocalypse installation
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Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong at work on his Strawpocalypse installation
Strawpocalypse is currently installed at Estella Place in Ho Chi Minh City
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Strawpocalypse is currently installed at Estella Place in Ho Chi Minh City
Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
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Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong at work on his Strawpocalypse installation
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Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong at work on his Strawpocalypse installation
Volunteers collected thousands upon thousands of straws for the Strawpocalypse installation
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Volunteers collected thousands upon thousands of straws for the Strawpocalypse installation
Volunteers collected thousands upon thousands of straws for the Strawpocalypse installation
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Volunteers collected thousands upon thousands of straws for the Strawpocalypse installation
Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong at work on his Strawpocalypse installation
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Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong at work on his Strawpocalypse installation
Volunteers collected thousands upon thousands of straws for the Strawpocalypse installation
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Volunteers collected thousands upon thousands of straws for the Strawpocalypse installation
Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
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Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
Volunteers collected thousands upon thousands of straws for the Strawpocalypse installation
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Volunteers collected thousands upon thousands of straws for the Strawpocalypse installation
Straws for the Strawpocalypse installation were collected by volunteers from all over Vietnam, with the blue, green and black straws making up the main body of the wave
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Straws for the Strawpocalypse installation were collected by volunteers from all over Vietnam, with the blue, green and black straws making up the main body of the wave
Straws for the Strawpocalypse installation were collected by volunteers from all over Vietnam, with the blue, green and black straws making up the main body of the wave
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Straws for the Strawpocalypse installation were collected by volunteers from all over Vietnam, with the blue, green and black straws making up the main body of the wave
Straws for the Strawpocalypse installation were collected by volunteers from all over Vietnam, with the blue, green and black straws making up the main body of the wave
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Straws for the Strawpocalypse installation were collected by volunteers from all over Vietnam, with the blue, green and black straws making up the main body of the wave
Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
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Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
Our problem with plastic waste is showing no signs of slowing down
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Our problem with plastic waste is showing no signs of slowing down
Organized plastic straws during construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
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Organized plastic straws during construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Organized plastic straws during construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
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Organized plastic straws during construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Our problem with plastic waste is showing no signs of slowing down
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Our problem with plastic waste is showing no signs of slowing down
Our problem with plastic waste is showing no signs of slowing down
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Our problem with plastic waste is showing no signs of slowing down
Construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
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Construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Organized plastic straws during construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
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Organized plastic straws during construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Piles of organized plastic straws during construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
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Piles of organized plastic straws during construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
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Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
Benajmin Von Wong at work on the Strawpocalypse installation
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Benajmin Von Wong at work on the Strawpocalypse installation
Construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
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Construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
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Construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Volunteers during the construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
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Volunteers during the construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Volunteers during the construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
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Volunteers during the construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Volunteers during the construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
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Volunteers during the construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
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Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
Volunteers during the construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
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Volunteers during the construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
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Construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Huge and intricate art installations can be a compelling way to visualize some of humanity’s environmental problems
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Huge and intricate art installations can be a compelling way to visualize some of humanity’s environmental problems
Strawpocalypse is currently installed at Estella Place in Ho Chi Minh City
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Strawpocalypse is currently installed at Estella Place in Ho Chi Minh City
Huge and intricate art installations can be a compelling way to visualize some of humanity’s environmental problems
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Huge and intricate art installations can be a compelling way to visualize some of humanity’s environmental problems
The Strawpocalypse installation comes together
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The Strawpocalypse installation comes together
Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
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Von Wong had the help of hundreds of volunteers in putting together his Strawpocalypse installation
The Strawpocalypse installation comes together
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The Strawpocalypse installation comes together
The Strawpocalypse installation comes together
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The Strawpocalypse installation comes together
Visitors take in the Strawpocalypse installation at Estella Place in Ho Chi Minh City
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Visitors take in the Strawpocalypse installation at Estella Place in Ho Chi Minh City
Strawpocalypse is currently installed at Estella Place in Ho Chi Minh City,
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Strawpocalypse is currently installed at Estella Place in Ho Chi Minh City,
Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong's Strawpocalypse installation
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Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong's Strawpocalypse installation
Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong's Strawpocalypse installation
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Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong's Strawpocalypse installation
The Strawpocalypse installation comprises 168,000 discarded straws
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The Strawpocalypse installation comprises 168,000 discarded straws
The Strawpocalypse installation comprises 168,000 discarded straws
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The Strawpocalypse installation comprises 168,000 discarded straws
Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong's Strawpocalypse installation
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Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong's Strawpocalypse installation
View gallery - 47 images

Huge and intricate art installations can be a compelling way to visualize some of humanity's environmental problems, and the Strawpocalypse is a particularly unflinching look at one of our most insidious and enduring. Put together by Canadian artist Von Wong, the stunning installation features thousands upon thousands of discarded straws arranged as inward facing waves that represent the "parting of the plastic seas."

Our problem with plastic waste is showing no signs of slowing down, but more and more evidence is emerging of how dire the situation is. Researchers at universities and those working on The Ocean Cleanup Project are continually improving on the ways we track the millions of metric tons of plastic waste that wash into the oceans each year, but what to do about it is another question entirely.

At least part of the answer to that question is to try and reduce the amount of single-use plastics we use in our day-to-day lives, and the 3.3-m-tall (10-ft) Strawpocalypse is Von Wong's way of trying to raise awareness of the problem and stem the tide.

Organized plastic straws during construction of the Strawpocalypse installation
Organized plastic straws during construction of the Strawpocalypse installation

He teamed up with Starbucks Vietnam, environmental group Zero Waste Saigon and hundreds of volunteers for the project, who together arranged 168,000 straws into a massive color-coordinated piece of artwork.

The straws were collected by volunteers from all over Vietnam, with the blue, green and black straws making up the main body of the wave. Orange and yellow were used for the sand at the base while the white straws were fixed to the top to represent the froth of the wave. Recovered plastic bags, meanwhile, were used as light diffusers for the LEDs built into the structure. A white sky of plastics with an orange Sun sits behind it.

Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong's Strawpocalypse installation
Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong's Strawpocalypse installation

Strawpocalypse is currently installed at Estella Place in Ho Chi Minh City, where it will remain up until March 24, 2019. You can hear from the artist in the video below.

Source: Von Wong

Why Straws Matter - Guinness World Record (largest straw installation) - ft. Steve Connell and The #Strawpocalypse

View gallery - 47 images
4 comments
4 comments
davidefreeman
Well, at least they put it in the right place. I assumed this was in California, but Asia generates the vast majority of plastic waste ending up in the ocean.
Nik
Moses would be at home there!
lucius
I have never understood the point of using a straw. Unless you are one of the very few individuals who has a physical condition that makes it impossible for you to drink from a cup, why are you using a straw? You're just generating totally needless waste.
ljaques
Is this guy doing shows, then throwing away a million straws each time? Ooh, nooo. This has all gone Wong!