> BACK TO PROJECTS OVERVIEW

TrashoSaurus: a symbol (or a threat?) for our rivers

It's all about the message, and this time it is not in a bottle. Here, the message is the bottle that we throw away in our garbage bins, may or may not recycle, or repurpose ourselves.

FeoFlip, an artist and painter from Tenerife (originally from Lanzarote, Canary Islands) joined us once more, but this time in Antwerp! For almost three months he ran around the place to create Trash Art.
He has left his mark significantly as he not only worked together with Treepack, but also various other organisation such as Piazza: a hub for young creatives. 

14 Youngsters and the artist built a Dung Beetle from trash which they collected in their streets and on the riverline of the Scheldt. Plastic, metal, rope, you can find it all thanks to littering and 'modern civilization'. Not only did this dung beetle see the light of day, various other installations by the artist are now visible at Stormkop, Antwerp. More about this project on the Tizarte page.

During these works, we met Thomas from River Cleanup. This guy is the driving force behind this organisation, and is very eager to clean up our rivers. The past year he's been setting up River Cleanup projects all over Europe. During River Cleanup day - which for obvious reasons is the same day as World Cleanup Day - the participants gathered more than 6 tonnes of trash from the Scheldt River. Just imagine all the other cities that were participating that day...

To make a tribute, or better yet, a symbol for this epic journey of zero trash, FeoFlip literally went into the river and dragged out all the plastic objects he could find to create this massive piece. An old pier remains near the shoreline, virtually washed away by the tides. This served as the perfect structure for the message the artist wanted to tell:


          "If in the past dinosaurs reigned the earth, in the future the garbage will. The plastics, the non-degradable waste, it will return from the bottom of the sea to reign the earth and humanity."


Pretty don't you think? Or does it make you think? We sure hope so.

For your information: if you happen to be in the neigborhood and want to visit this piece, make sure you check the river tides. At certain times you can only see the head of the trashosaurus.

You can find it here:
https://goo.gl/maps/Zpep2EeuFKAh7LgR8

Play the video to see the creation of this epicly proportioned trash sculpture.

Cleaning up is always a mess. Sorting your things is much better.

About the artist

Feoflip is the alter ego of Fran Feo, a boy born in the Canary Islands, far away from the facilities and the support of the urban art. His story began around the year 2000, when painting in the street didn't receive any artistic recognition. He moved at night to create his pieces. Over time, the crew ‘Chinijos del Millo’ was born, being composed of artists who are active in different disciplines. This crew was engaged in ‘artivism’, street theatre, performance, social actions and graffiti.
Between 2005 and 2011, Feoflip resided in Barcelona, Galicia, Thessaloniki. This caused the group to be divided, giving him more space to take his personal career seriously. During this period, he collaborated with the squat movement: creating murals, hosting workshops, creating silk screens, stencils, banners, hacking advertisements and similar artistic actions. Those years caused a change of consciousness that would be reflected in the message of his work. On the other hand, the work signed as Fran Feo focuses on illustration, puppetry, comics and stop motion.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

  • Hard to estimate, but about 200kg of plastics and trash were used in the creation of this process.
  • 3 liters of paint and 2 spray cans were used.
  • 5 days of hard labour - pulling out plastic of the ever so zonky rivermud. 
  • Fun fact: 45 minutes of hand sawing the first post of the pier at 5 meters height in the mud - otherwise the trashosaurus would have become a giraffe.

Thanks to Thomas from River Cleanup for sponsoring and helping this project come to fruition. Special thanks to the artist, and Stormkop for hosting us with open arms (and lending some ladders).