Plastocene Reef
Augmented Reality enhanced wall installation, Tamiko Thiel, 2025
Premiere: 20-23 February, 2025 at Art Karlsruhe, Germany
With Yvonne Hohner Contemporary
I will donate 10% of my profits from any sales to organizations that fight ocean plastic waste! When viewed through my augmented reality app, Plastocene Reef turns your environment into a plastic garbage coral reef - a reminder of how our addiction to plastics has filled all life on Earth with plastic. Only 9% of plastics can be recycled at all, and much of it is sent to countries with poor waste management, and ends up in our oceans. Plastic waste is endangering already stressed coral reefs - and in Greece divers discovered a "coral reef" entirely made of plastic.
Plastocene Reef wall installation, viewed in real life.
Art Karlsruhe 2025, Yvonne Hohner Contemporary.
Plastocene Reef wall installation, viewed in augmented reality app.
Art Karlsruhe 2025, Yvonne Hohner Contemporary. (Artwork on left: "Marshlands," Fahar Al-Salih.)
Art Karlsruhe 2025, Yvonne Hohner Contemporary. (Artwork on left: "Marshlands," Fahar Al-Salih.)
When viewed in my augmented reality (AR) app, the entire augmented wall transforms into a 3D "plastic waste coral reef." The "plastocorals" grow out of your wall and are populated by swarms of colorful reef fish and flocking plastic garbage. The burbling sound of a scuba diver's breathing apparatus provides a soothing ambient background.
Can art make a difference? This is a true story that happened when I premiered Plastocene Reef at Art Karlsruhe: