Seattle Office of Arts & Culture has awarded me a Temporary Art Activation grant to mega size some chain diatoms and put them into trees in the Seattle Center for the months of Sept – Dec 2015. here are some excerpts from my proposal:

In The Trees – mock up of spiral form

These scale morphed phytoplankton (planktos, the Greek word meaning wanderer or drifter) have appeared in the trees to remind us of their life sustaining powers of oxygen production, similar to the trees, but more ephemeral in their life span and sensitivity to environmental imbalance. As people walk past the work, they will look up and discover this incongruous sight of this microalgae out of the water.

chain diatom from the puget sound

Wim van Egmond – Chaetoceros debilis (marine diatom), a colonial plankton organism 250x

Five-foot long spiral forms made of modified plastic bottles mounted on a light metal framework bob in the breeze nestled within the branches of deciduous trees. As the leaves turn in the fall, the bright green of the bottles contrast with the background of yellow and orange leaves. As autumn progresses to winter, the enlarged chain diatoms are fully revealed as the leaves fall from the trees. Solar lights within the pieces will glow as it becomes dark.

Painting of spiral form made of plastic bottles mounted on a spiral formed roundstock

The recycled bottles will be sourced through social media, the help of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture and the Seattle Aquarium Volunteer community.

I NEED YOUR HELP

Do you drink a liquid from a green plastic bottle????

I need your Green Plastic Bottles!!!!!!

All kinds and sizes, I am not picky!!!

If you are in the Seattle area, I will come pick up your recycled green bottles. Please sign your bottle with a sharpie before giving them to me so your name is in the piece. Contact me to schedule a pick up time at kait@kaitrhoads.com

My Deadline is August 7th, 2015.

Well, I am not sure of all of them but the major ones are: Mountain Dew, Perrier and Schwepps Ginger ale.

What will I do with these bottles you ask????

Bottle division

Chain Diatom

Proposed deconstruction and reconstruction of bottles

I like this graphic by Noel of a chain diatom.

Noel’s portraits

Thalassiosira, a beauty under the microscope is a glass housed diatom common in colder waters and contributes important oils to the ocean’s food chains.