Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang
Since 1999, we have visited 1000 yards of remote beach, Kehoe Beach, in the Point Reyes National Seashore hundreds of times to gather plastic washing out of the Pacific Ocean. By carefully sorting the debris, we fashion it into works of art that show the material as it is. The viewer is often surprised that this colorful stuff is the junk of our throwaway culture. Each bit, we find, opens into a wider story of contemporary life.
As a collaborative team, each with 40 years as studio artists, we combine our love of nature with our interest in material science to shape plastic into art works full of intrigue. We’ve had over 50 exhibitions of our work ranging from the San Francisco MOMA to the US Embassy in the Republic of Georgia. Although our work speaks about a real environmental problem, art is the central theme. This multifaceted exploration is also a two-part love story. The love of a place in a magnificent national park just 25 miles from San Francisco, an American megalopolis. And this beach is the site of our first date, which opened into an ongoing marriage of two souls dedicated to the notion that beauty can contribute to righting a world out of balance.
The studied compositions we make are intended to be visually enticing—free of polemic. We want the viewer to be captivated by the bright colors and enticed by the shapes and, upon closer inspection, see recognizable items that spark a personal connection. We invite people to become the anthropologists of the stuff of their lives.
American. Based in CA, USA.
Available Works
Rainbow, 2012
LIMITED EDITION PRINT
Artist: Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang
Sculpture Dimensions: 18" x 33"
Materials: Archival pigment print on 100% rag paper (signed limited edition of 20).
About: "Rainbow" is a display of how we begin the sorting process, by color. Before 1850, bright color was rare and an economic driving force for early commerce. Today’s toss-away turquoise shampoo bottle would have been a treasure fit for royalty. But what is this color's toxic impact on the ocean when plastic starts to break down.
Proceeds: 50% of the net proceeds from the sale of this sculpture will be donated to the Ocean Recovery Alliance.
Price: $900 USD
(Price does not include shipping.)
For purchasing, high resolution images or other details, please contact judith@sfelectricworks.com or richard@sfelectricworks.com
To learn more, please visit www.BeachPlastic.com