Tahoe Bathymetry: Proposal in process. Projected completion September 2027
“Tahoe Bathymetry is a large scale suspended 3D model of Lake Tahoe's waters and watersheds consisting of 10,000s of beads made of recycled & foraged plastics harvested & processed by artists and community members along the shores of the ancient lake. Tahoe Bathymetry is a community construction & a sculptural installation that will travel beyond the basin to model creative ways to reduce & reuse plastics.”
Introduction Lake Tahoe Bathymetry (working title) will be a collective sculpture where members of the Lake Tahoe community can contribute to the building of a large scale, suspended model of the lake’s waters, from the surface to the bottom. The suspended form with consist of thousands of beads made of recycled and foraged plastic, strung together vertically like cores, collectively forming the shape of the water we love and work to sustain. This project is more than merely a suspended sculpture made of recycled plastic, it is a process of connecting communities around the lake to learn how we can work together to better care for the lake’s ecosystem and ourselves, so that we can continue to enjoy these deep blue waters for recreation and spiritual fulfillment. Community members can work the beaches and trails on clean up days to gather plastic debris, and local businesses can offer there plastic recyclables to be processed into the beads. Beads will be processed safely with commercially available plastic shredders and extruders, compact machines that can be transported to various sites and public events given their scale and integrated fume extration system. Once the beads are produced and sorted, strands will be strung by community members on collective workdays at locations around the Lake. Each strand of beads will be a specific length corresponding to data gathered from a 3D bathymetry map. Finally all the strands come together to be assembled and suspended at Keep Tahoe Blue, and eventually elsewhere (schools, museums, transit centers or airports for instance).
Positioned just above our heads, the shape of Lake Tahoe’s waters will sway and shimmer, a constellation of beads, individually strung by artist volunteers and the general public. Stepping under the lake, one will hear the voices of scientists describing the effects of macro and micro plastics on humans and the environment, as well as community members sharing what they can do to further eliminate plastic waste and production.
Background Lake Tahoe Bathymetry (working title) is a collective sculpture and a community construction consisting of thousands of beads made of recycled and foraged plastic strung vertically to form a 3D model of the lake’s waters. Our use of recycled and found plastic for this sculpture is intended to draw attention to the urgent ecological challenge of macro and microplastics in our environment, the air, the ocean and in our fresh water supply. Upcycling discarded and single use plastic into usable products or art is not new. Today it is it’s own growing industry and people all over the world are learning to harvest what was once considered garbage to produce new items and experiences. Imagine plastic as a global resource we can reformulate into useful things! Plastic mines instead of landfills? Finding ways to get plastic out of landfills and lakes is only one part of the puzzle. Sadly, plastic production continues to grow exponentially. According to OurworldinData.org, Humans’ use of plastic since the 1950s has grown “by nearly 230-fold.” Here in Lake Tahoe, scientists were shocked to discover that out of 38 lakes tested, “Lake Tahoe has the third highest concentration of plastic of 38 lakes tested around the world and higher than in the surface water at the ocean’s gyres where the floating islands of debris emblematic of the world’s plastic pollution crisis collect.”
Human health relies on many factors, but one constant is the environment. Everyone needs clean water and air. It's universal. With an educational element at public events and installations, Lake Tahoe Bathymetry will provide opportunities for community members to learn how to reuse and reduce, in creative and practical ways, so we can choose healthy ecologies over short sighted convenience. Because what is more inconvenient, carrying around canvas bags, or chronic inflammation, cell damage and infertility?
