29 February - 24 March 2024

Plastic Tides

Bianca Carague and Erik Peters

Speculating the future of an archipelago that had emerged from plastic waste, Rotterdam-based artists Bianca Carague and Erik Peters present the third iteration of their ‘Maria Island’ projects through this exhibition. While the Philippines ranks highest as an oceanic plastic polluter, much of this waste originates from Western countries such as the Netherlands. Hence, the presentation looks into the possible influence of waste colonialism on spiritual connections and other links through a fictional techno-deity named Maria, tasked to care for an imagined island and to bring life to the new species formed after a supposed archipelagic evolution.

Bianca Carague (b.1995) is an artist and designer between The Netherlands and the Philippines. With a Master's in Social Design from Design Academy Eindhoven, Carague combines design research with worldbuilding and interactive technologies to craft immersive spaces that tell stories of the future. She was selected for the coveted Lumen Art Prize 2023 shortlist under the Immersive Environment category for her exhibition, 'Gen C: Children of 2050' at Tetem in Enschede. Carague's works have been featured in the London Design Biennale, Dutch Design Week, Het Nieuwe Instituut, and Triennale di Milano.

Erik Peters (b.1997) is an interdisciplinary artist and designer engaging with the worldbuilding potentialities seeded in the act of storytelling, uncovering how speculative fiction can germinate new universes of being. Their research-based and collaborative practice is situated in an interdependent web of ecologies and technologies, human and non-human beings. Within their work, queer methodologies and mythologies are evoked to create multidisciplinary scenarios about possible futures; imaginative worlds staged as spatial and interactive installations, workshops, publications and audiovisual works. They frequently work with materials and techniques such as generative artificial intelligence, ceramics, 3d printing and 3d scanning methods. Erik holds a BA in Crossmedia Design from AKI ArtEZ in Enschede, as well as having studied Design for Art Direction at the London College of Communication.