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NEWS
metronews.ca WEEKEND, September 6-8, 2013
Artist hopes this plastic has a fantastic message BYOB. Calgarians encouraged to visit gallery and bring their own plastic bags to donate to local artist’s exhibit GLENN KELLY
calgary@metronews.ca
Rosemary Brown stands amongst tangled branches, peeking out from behind as she drapes plastic over them like some sort of rare and elusive bird assembling a nest. The branches and plastic take on a unique form, all part of the local Calgary artist’s newest creation, Plastic Fantastic, which sits on display at the Epcor Center’s Ledge Gallery. For Brown, Plastic Fantastic has been a process that has taken more than two years, when she was first inspired by the idea of plastic and how it can take on beautiful forms yet be so detrimental to the environment. “It would be hard for us to think of a world without plastic. It’s in everything. It’s light, it’s versatile, it’s easily moulded, it’s cheaper than other things. That’s why it proliferates in our society,” says Brown. “But there are serious consequences for us, and for our
Calgary artist Rosemary Brown hopes to her exhibit opens Calgarians’ eyes to the impact of plastic waste on the environment. Glenn Kelly for Metro
environment.” The art installation is ongoing and continually growing until Oct. 5, when Brown plans to have filled the entire Ledge Gallery, creating a relative forest of structures. The art installation has an informative message about the current state of recycling and
the environment, Brown says, one that teaches the public about what needs to happen in order for positive change. “For me, I think of all of the environmental education that’s happened, the three Rs, and yet in the States and in Canada, a very small percentage of plastic bags are actually recycled. That
would be the start: how to encourage people to do more of that and to think further and more deeply about plastic and what we can do about consumption,” she said. Calgarians are encouraged to stop by the gallery and bring their own plastic bags to donate to the exhibit.
Pervasive
“It would be hard for us to think of a world without plastic. It’s in everything.” Rosemary Brown
Keys Please. Volunteer allegedly threatened with gun The volunteer organization whose driver had a gun allegedly shoved in her face overnight said those confrontations are rare. Calgary police have since apprehended two suspects in connection with an incident near Kensington Road and 10 Street NW around 1 a.m. Thursday morning involving a volunteer for the drinking and driving prevention company Keys Please. The incident involved one of the suspects in the back seat of a Keys Please vehicle allegedly pulling a gun on a volunteer driver when she refused to turn up the radio. Keys Please general manager, Ginger Greenwood, admitted that although rare, the confrontation has left both the driver and other members at the company shaken. “It is shocking. I mean strange things do happen, but I’m sure we’re all wracking our brains to see if there’s anything else we can do to make it safer for our drivers,” said Greenwood. “We have never had an incident like this in 17 years,” she said. Duty Inspector Jim Stinson confirmed that both suspects were apprehended shortly after the incident and are now in police custody. A shotgun was recovered from the scene. Glenn Kelly for Metro