 |
 |
||||
 |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
WELLINGTON FORUM - Wednesday, July 20, 2005 |
|||||||
|
'A Trashy Art sends environmental message!' By KARI BARNETT FORUM STAFF WRITER Cylindrical glass vases overflowing with sea glass and bottle caps sat on tables inside the Okeeheelee Nature Center last week. A group of tattered toys - little green army men and - a blonde-haired Barbie doll - were lined up on a counter. Once played with by children enjoying a summer day at the beach, they now sit as a reminder of the unusual items that wash ashore every day.
|
||||||
|
Click on the picture for a close up |
Click here to see his work | ||||||
|
|||||||
|
Bouquets of ballpoint pens and
frayed-bristle toothbrushes form an odd collection of
souvenirs that artist Aimen Faraj of Singer Island has
procured over the last 20 years.
He lives by the motto, "Everything we throw into the ocean, the ocean throws back at us." Faraj brings his display of "Trashy Art" to schools, museums and clubs throughout Palm Beach County to educate about the effects littering has on the environment. Last week, his exhibition was part of the Palm Beach Pack & Paddle Club's monthly meeting at the nature center, 7715 Forest Hill Blvd., east of Wellington. "It brings people's attention to the issue, " said club member Ann DeBooth who first saw Faraj's art at a museum. "I thought it was so interesting. Hopefully, something shocking like this will register with people." Several years ago, Faraj, 45, formed the Pollution Solution Foundation, a nonprofit organization, to raise money to bring environmental etiquette programs to Palm Beach County schools. "MY goal is educate people about the impact humans have on the world's oceans," he said. After combing the sandy shores of South Florida beaches for nearly two decades, Faraj gathered a TRASH TO TREASURE: Aimen Faraj combs south Florida beaches to collect litter he uses in his Trashy Art pieces. "Everything we through into the ocean, the ocean throws back at us," he said. Photo by Karl Barnett. large collection of sea glass - bottles and glass that when left on the beach becomes smooth by the waves and currents. "Before you know it, I had a beautiful collection," he said. "People wanted to buy it from me, but I loved it too much and I didn't want to sell it." He decided to make art with the manmade objects he found in the sand to use for educational purposes. 
"Five percent of people are aware of the environment and the rest use and abuse it," he said. "Pollution has become a global issue. People think by dumping in the ocean, they can bury it under the sand." Joshua and Jessica Baker of Orlando, both 7, attended the meeting with their parents, Venus and Mike. They found out about the exhibit from Faraj, who rents para-sailing and other recreational water equipment at a Singer Island resort where the family vacationed last week. "Wow, " Joshua said as he picked up a basketball and shoe sole from a bin. "They found this on the beach?" Faraj also has a large collection of medical waste he has found on the shoreline. He said he never puts these items, such as syringes and medicine bottles, on display to the public. "We use the ocean as a garbage can," he said. Faraj keeps most of his collection at his home, but stores larger items, like the refrigerator he found on Delray Beach, in a warehouse. He said he has so many items that he can fill a 4,000 square foot exhibit space. "This is wonderful. We've done so many cleanups and-seen all this stuff," said club president Stephanie Saunders. "It never occurred that we can do something with it. Someone has taken refuse to create something beautiful while helping the children." Call the Pollution Solution
Foundation at (561) 202-4855, or visit www.notfishfood.org, |
|||||||
|
|||||||
