Hungarian artist creates a living, breathing wall of plastic bags to connect people with nature

The plastic shopping bag has become a ubiquitous symbol for all that is wrong with consumer culture: flimsy and disposable, damaging to the environment from its creation to its disposal. For Hungarian artist Endre Koronczi, those same infuriating an to

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The plastic shopping bag has become a ubiquitous symbol for all that is wrong with consumer culture: flimsy and disposable, damaging to the environment from its creation to its disposal. For Hungarian artist Endre Koronczi, those same infuriating plastic vessels represent an opportunity to connect people with nature. He was inspired by a vision of plastic bags becoming a living, breathing part of nature, and he uses his art pieces to illustrate that mythical dream. This art installation, under the Ploubuter Park moniker, is his most recent work.

Attila Nagy, writing for Gizmodo, called the plastic bag installation an “almost magical” experience but also “one of the weirdest art pieces” he’s ever seen. Juxtaposing man-made objects with a natural setting often evokes such a reaction, and Koronczi’s vision seems to be no exception to the rule.

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Attila Nagy, writing for Gizmodo, called the plastic bag installation an “almost magical” experience but also “one of the weirdest art pieces” he’s ever seen. Juxtaposing man-made objects with a natural setting often evokes such a reaction, and Koronczi’s vision seems to be no exception to the rule.

Using over 250 plastic shopping bags in blue, white, and yellow, Koronczi built a “living” wall along the riverfront in Budapest. The installation was erected in early May and was on display for most of the month before it was dismantled.

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Using over 250 plastic shopping bags in blue, white, and yellow, Koronczi built a “living” wall along the riverfront in Budapest. The installation was erected in early May and was on display for most of the month before it was dismantled.

The artist visited the site nearly every day during its run, typically in the evening, to capture photographs of the plastic bag wall, which filters the sunlight beautifully across the park, and takes on slightly different forms as the gentle breeze the

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The artist visited the site nearly every day during its run, typically in the evening, to capture photographs of the plastic bag wall, which filters the sunlight beautifully across the park, and takes on slightly different forms as the gentle breeze fills the bag, lifting and shifting them.

However, Koronczi may have been just as entranced by the flocks of onlookers who came to see the installation, to contemplate its temporary existence, and to snap selfies in front of an oxymoronic backdrop.

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However, Koronczi may have been just as entranced by the flocks of onlookers who came to see the installation, to contemplate its temporary existence, and to snap selfies in front of an oxymoronic backdrop.

Koronczi uses plastic bags frequently in his art pieces, typically placing the bags under circumstances that allow them to have movement and thus, seemingly, life. His YouTube channel is full of video clips of previous works, including performance art

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Koronczi uses plastic bags frequently in his art pieces, typically placing the bags under circumstances that allow them to have movement and thus, seemingly, life. His YouTube channel is full of video clips of previous works, including performance art starring the artist himself.