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The Ocean Cleanup Conceptualizes Its Third Massive Apparatus to Remove Trash from the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’

 Sadly known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a wide swath of ocean between the U.S. coast and Japan is an enormous vortex of trash. A gyre, or system of currents, surrounds the area and sucks debris and litter into its rotation, trapping hundreds of millions of kilograms of plastic waste within its 20 million square kilometers. Back in 2018, The Ocean Cleanup engineered a slow-moving apparatus called System 001 designed to wade through the patch to retrieve garbage with a massive net. The nonprofit, which wants to remove 90 percent of floating plastic by 2040, is now conceptualizing its third iteration of…

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Kate MccGwire On Discerning Duality, Connecting with Nature, and Making Art in the Belly of a Dutch Barge

Inside glass vitrines redolent of cabinets of curiosities or Victorian-era natural history collections, Kate MccGwire’s "creatures" appear locked in an intense, writhing struggle. Known for sculptures and installations that incorporate thousands of bird feathers into serpentine bodies and gushing spills, the artist (previously) houses works in bespoke cases or historic buildings that induce a sense of surprise, unease, and wonder. MccGwire, who is now based in London, grew up on the Norfolk Broads, a network of waterways in the eastern lobe of England that are mostly navigable by boat, where her explorations of the region's wetlands and wildlife provided a…

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Design

Discarded Scallop Shells Combine with Recycled Plastics in the Waste-Reducing ‘Shellmet’

The village of Sarufutsu in Hokkaido, Japan, is known for bringing in some of the country's biggest hauls of scallops. Unfortunately, when the bivalves are processed for the food industry, they generate about 40,000 tons of discarded shells annually. The village teamed up with product design startup Quantum and plastics manufacturer Koushi to tackle the ever-mounting quantities in local landfills. Along came Hotamet—a portmanteau of "hotate" (which means scallop) and "helmet"—alternatively known as Shellmet. The marine-inspired, eco-friendly safety accessory incorporates discarded, crushed scallop shells into a protective covering. A main…

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Photography

The Photography Stories Colossal Readers Loved Most in 2022

As we near the end of 2022, we’re reflecting on the hundreds of articles published on Colossal this year. Today, we're taking a look at the photographs and series readers loved most. These 12 articles capture a breadth of subject matter across continents, from uncanny doppelgängers and self-portraits in disguise to dramatic winter waves and ancient trees. For more of 2022’s highlights, check out similar lists in art, craft, design, and our favorite books of the year.   Arresting Photos Document the Polar Bears Occupying an Abandoned Weather Station in Russia Set against a backdrop…

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Design

Recycled Building Materials Construct a Multi-Purpose Zero Waste Center in Japan

Back in 2003, Kamikatsu, a town in Tokushima Prefecture, became Japan's first municipality to go zero waste, establishing a whopping 45 categories for recycling. Today, the village reuses about 80 percent of the garbage it generates, and the Kamikatsu Zero Waste Center is at the forefront of the community's charge to become entirely trash-free in the coming years. Designed by the architect Hiroshi Nakamura (previously), the recycling facility is comprised mostly of upcycled materials, including a mishmash of 700 donated windows cloaking its facade. Unprocessed timber and trimmings—cedar logging once…

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Art

Blackened Plywood Shards Rupture Inside Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s Chapel in Leonardo Drew’s New Installation

In the cavernous 18th-century chapel at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, a new installation by artist Leonardo Drew (previously) explodes toward the ceiling in a massive plume, scatting shards, dust, and tiny fragments of material around the space. Titled "Number 360," the work is comprised of blackened and painted plywood that brings chaos and destruction to the otherwise stark, quiet sanctuary. The central surge of the installation reaches five meters tall to…

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