Gyre: The Plastic Ocean

This book, which explores the relationship between humans and the ocean in a contemporary culture of consumption, offers an international perspective on a pressing environmental problem. Much of the oceans’ trash is swirling in one of five gyres, which are large systems of rotating ocean currents, and this is how it finds its way into our ocean biosphere and onto beaches. With stunning visual impact 20 internationally recognized artists have created works of art from debris collected on beaches around the world. Alongside are essays from the artists, scientists and educators who took part in the Gyre expedition along the Alaska coastline in June 2013. The related exhibition to this book and expedition will take place at the Ancorage Museum, Alaska from February to September 2014. Julie Decker is chief curator at the Anchorage Museum Alaska and is the author of various publications on the art and architecture of Alaska.