Hyper Realities

Hyper Realities, Benjamin Von Wong,  at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), Athens.

A series of photographs by visual artist and photographer Benjamin Von Wong that focus on our excessive consumerism and our total lack of respect for the natural world, which, if continued at this rate, will eventually destroy our planet. The three topics presented in this exhibition are related to the environmental impact of the fashion industry, the disposal of electronic waste and the excessive use of plastic in our everyday lives. The captions that accompany the photographs give a very clear message about our folly and its disastrous consequences.

The exhibition includes a series of videos that show the research, design process and special effects used to create the photographs.

50% of the plastic we use, we use just once before throwing away. (450years.com)

By the year 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea. (450years.com)

The average American will use 10,000 plastic bottles over the course of their life. (450years.com)

It takes 450 years for a single plastic bottle to degrade. Avoid plastics when you can. (450years.com)

70 million trees are cut down every year to produce clothing fibre. (clothingtheloop.org)

By 2030, 2.8 billion tons of CO will be released every year by the fashion industry. (clothingtheloop.org)

It takes 2700 L of water to produce just one cotton t-shirt. (clothingtheloop. org)

The clothing we wear has a hidden cost. We need to think about closing the loop. (clothingtheloop.org)

Every day 142,000 computers are thrown away in the US. (rethinkandrecycle,com)

There can be up to 800x more gold in the circuits we throw than found raw in the ground. (rethinkandrecycle.com)

Only 15% of electronic waste is recycled every single year. (rethinkandrecycle.com)

E-waste is the fastest growing municipal waste stream in the world. (rethinkandrecycle.com)