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Artist Transforms PET Plastic Bottles Into Animal And Nature Inspired Artworks

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With the countless number of plastic containers and materials dumped everyday in landfills around the world or that end up floating in our oceans, the plastic pollution has already become a critical situation. Environmentally-conscious artist Veronika Richterová wanted to make a contribution towards upcycling plastic bottles in her own way. And this, she certainly did, by reshaping plastic waste into wonderful nature and animal inspired artworks, among other sculptures.

Her innovative art form is a real eye-catcher among other incredible recycling projects that exist out there and provide ways to help deal with this plastic pollution crisis. Based in the Czech Republic, the artist started her plastic artwork project (dubbed PET-ART) in 2004.

All photos credit: Michal Cihlář via Veronika Richterová

With the use of heat, the plastic is twisted, turned and reshaped into varied, stunning shapes, some of these being large garden installations. As a result, soda and mineral water bottles, and other plastic containers take on the shapes of cacti, flowers, lobster, frogs, penguins and even a crocodile. Apart from nature and wildlife inspired art, Richterová also creates an incredible lighting collection called PET Luminaries. It comprises a number of fully functioning lamps that appear like glass, including some intricate chandeliers that are reminiscent of the ones used in regal 19th-century ballrooms.

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Throughout the years, the artist has used thousands of bottles as her source materials and has created numerous techniques of converting them into different shapes. Before she launched herself into this particular art project, Richterová previously worked for the Czech television. The artist recalled how she discovered PET bottles for the first time in 1989, while she was studying in Paris. Back then, plastic bottles were not being used in the Czech Republic. She lived in a completely unfurnished hall of residence in Paris, and used to drink wine from glasses made from plastic bottles that she had created.

In 2004, while heating a plastic bottle by chance, she found out about its interesting properties and the potential it had to be easily manipulated. Seeing this as an opportunity to be used as recycled material for a sculptor, she started to dabble with plastic bottle art. At the beginning, it was a simple visual experiment, but soon it would turn out to be an abundant production of recycled art projects.

In 2007, Veronika Richterová, together with the help of her graphic designer husband, Michal Cihlár, opened the PET-ART Museum. It is a sort of academic hub having for aim to detail about the evolution of the design of PET bottles throughout the years, and also to provide explanation about the differences and similarities in composition between individual types of bottles.

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Currently, the PET-ART Museum accommodates a collection of over 3 000 plastic bottles that Richterová has gathered from 76 countries around the world. On top of that, the artist also hosts upcycling classes and workshops, and elaborates through her substantial writings about the history of plastic bottles, including its mass-scale production, and her longtime investment in them.

The artist’s work is called PET-ART, as the word PET is the abbreviation of polyethylene terephthalate, the technical name for the commonly-used substance which plastic bottles and other containers are made of. PET bottles and containers are also derived from oil and other substances, which make them extremely durable, as well as being notorious for not degrading in nature. Indeed, their devastating impact on the environment are well known. Therefore, it is of vital importance that plastic waste are collected and recycled into fibers for clothing and construction materials, but also finding other ways to upcycle.

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These plastic structures are all unique and fascinating, and Veronika Richterová describes the experimental process of creating them. She explains how the principle is very simple; when heat is applied, PET bottles tend to get smaller. But, in the artist’s experience, it can be hard to control the process as each types of bottles are of different quality and compositions, thus their behavior is often unpredictable. Due to these uncertainties, Richterová states how the final sculpture is usually the result of many experiments.

Most of these materials are obtained for free everywhere, which is a major advantage. The skillful artist mentions how she has a special house full of bottles that she has gathered and which she refers to as her ‘treasury’, where she can just grabs what she needs to work with.

This innovative PET-ART project is undoubtedly proving that there are some incredible potentialities in inventive recycling and upcycling. As experts have warned that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans, Richterová’s fascinating artworks have demonstrated how plastic garbage can end up into wonderful sculptures, instead of finishing their course in landfills or the oceans.

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Artist Veronika Richterová with her artwork
Artist Veronika Richterová posing with her artwork

You can view more of Veronika Richterová fantastic plastic artwork on her website.

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