A 21ST CENTURY GULLIVER’S TRAVELS... ONPLANET PLASTIC
THEIR breath-taking views have inspired countless painters and writers over the centuries.
Now, as the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond are increasingly blighted by plastic pollution, one artist has found a novel way of highlighting the issue.
David Gilliver has collected discarded bottles, cutlery, lids and straws and recreated scenes of everyday life using miniature figures.
His Life in Plastic project’s tiny people sunbathe on bottle caps, dive from ice cream spoons and jog in cups – and look like modern-day scenes of Lilliput, the island of little people from Gulliver’s Travels.
Glasgow-born Mr Gilliver, 39, said: ‘My main hope is that this new series of photographs will help highlight the plastic and litter epidemic our country and planet is suffering from.
‘Littering has always sickened me and the “Blue Planet II effect” really made me feel like I could help.
‘Earlier this year I spent several days collecting bags full of plastic and rubbish that had been discarded or washed up next to beaches and lochs on the West Coast of Scotland, mostly beauty spots.
‘I kept some of this to make my work, recycling the rest, and returned to Loch Lomond a couple of months ago to photograph Life in Plastic.’
The Glasgow School of Art graduate has been working with the figurines – usually used by model railway enthusiasts – for around 20 years.
The Daily Mail’s Turn the Tide on plastic campaign has been highlighting the plastic pollution plaguing our country.
Our Banish the Bottles push led to a Scottish Government pledge to implement a bottle deposit and return scheme to cut litter and boost recycling.