They’re beautiful from a distance -- and appalling upon closer inspection.
A styrofoam coral reef, a water bottle jelly fish and a plastic whale ribcage are some of the giant sealife sculptures featured in Washed Ashore -- a traveling exhibit open at the San Francisco Zoo all summer -- made entirely from ocean debris collected on Pacific beaches. Exclusive to the San Francisco exhibit is "Buoy, Beat ‘n Bop," a collection of musical sculptures featuring a swaying anemone chime, a colony of sea jelly bells and a school of percussive fish.
“I've created something I hope is beautiful and horrifying,” lead artist Angela Haseltine Pozzi told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The display, sponsored by Pozzi’s Artula Institute for Arts and Environmental Education, is the product of years of collecting more than 11 tons of beach trash to raise awareness of how plastic pollution affects the species featured.
“We’re thrilled that the Zoo is bringing this important art and educational message about ocean pollution to a wide audience in the Bay Area,” Pozzi said in a zoo press release.
Check out the photos below of Pozzi and the sculptures.
![gyre]()
![sealpup]()
![anemone]()
![coral]()
![fish]()
![jellies]()
![star]()
![ribcage]()
All photos by Marianne Hale, courtesy of the San Francisco Zoo.
A styrofoam coral reef, a water bottle jelly fish and a plastic whale ribcage are some of the giant sealife sculptures featured in Washed Ashore -- a traveling exhibit open at the San Francisco Zoo all summer -- made entirely from ocean debris collected on Pacific beaches. Exclusive to the San Francisco exhibit is "Buoy, Beat ‘n Bop," a collection of musical sculptures featuring a swaying anemone chime, a colony of sea jelly bells and a school of percussive fish.
“I've created something I hope is beautiful and horrifying,” lead artist Angela Haseltine Pozzi told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The display, sponsored by Pozzi’s Artula Institute for Arts and Environmental Education, is the product of years of collecting more than 11 tons of beach trash to raise awareness of how plastic pollution affects the species featured.
“We’re thrilled that the Zoo is bringing this important art and educational message about ocean pollution to a wide audience in the Bay Area,” Pozzi said in a zoo press release.
Check out the photos below of Pozzi and the sculptures.
All photos by Marianne Hale, courtesy of the San Francisco Zoo.