At number 50 Avenida de Navarra, behind the large windows of the San Sebastian-based Blue Factory, Dani Garreton draws at her desk, reminding the visitors her enthusiasm to paint daily. On one of the sunny days of an endless Spring season, the Chilean artist receives me with smiles, folk music blasting out and her adorable little Shiba Inu laid on a pillow.

When we enter the former abandoned building converted into a high ceiling creative space, we are struck by an inimitable fascination for the blue color. Seafarers, surfers, seagulls and fish canvas sit near windows that touch the ceiling. A penchant for the ocean is clearly visible through the Chilean artist’s work who finds »all sea creatures so fascinating«. Stuffed full with wooden planks, watercolor paint sets, drawings on paper, buckets of pencils and brushes, Dani’s studio is an opportunity to better understand her innate creativity.

As a youngster, Dani left Chile for Europe. A few years later, she settled down in the Basque Country where she enjoys every single piece of surrounding nature. »Nature is my first love,« she says. »It helps me keep my sanity.« As we discuss  her childhood in Chile, her attachment to the Panthalassa Society family and desire to raise awareness through art, Daniela reminds us that the ocean is what keeps her creatively moving forward. »Using my art as a message for a more conscious living. Expressing myself and finding that freedom I had as a child.«

Let’s get started. Can you begin by telling us how you would define yourself?

I was born in Chile, a very long country with more than 4000 km of coasts. From an early age, I was influenced by the sea. I still remember those endless summers at the beach with my little sister, collecting shells, building fantastic worlds in the sand, swimming and just having this feeling of total freedom. I grew up in a very creative family and we were always pushed to express ourselves through art.

How has your approach to drawing and painting developed over the years?

I think there is this rollercoaster with drawing and painting through the years. When you’re a kid, the creative process is very organic and intuitive. It’s purely about feelings and emotions. A splash of color, some crazy lines and suddenly you have a giraffe! Everything is allowed. When you approach the teenage years, you become more perfectionist, you try to draw realistic, you want to learn to draw and paint as perfect as possible and finally get the perfect technique. Then the challenge is to unlearn all this and find the freedom you had as a kid. Be able to let yourself go and not be obsessed with getting the perfect result but the closest to your real emotion. Feed that confidence you had as a kid. As Picasso said “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

Based in San-Sebastian today, you tend to immerse yourself in nature. Can you tell us a bit about your daily routine?

Nature is my first love. It helps me keep my sanity. First thing I do in the morning is kiss and pet my dog, then same to my man. Then we go for a walk with my pup, I breathe, I admire the ocean, and we walk to the Blue Factory where I have my studio. I never take the car in the city, I walk or ride my bike. Being able to get to your workplace without the need of a car or public transport is a major privilege. You get to work with such a good mood. In  the evening, we take a long stroll in the beach with my pup and if the sea is gentle, I go for a surf or swim.

What does the ocean mean to you?

The ocean is life. Its change. Its constant movement. It teaches you so much. It really forces you to be in the present moment, be aware and in synch with nature’s rhythm. Life starts floating in amniotic fluid, which has a similar composition to ocean water, so I feel we have this very primitive connection to the sea.

A penchant for the ocean is clearly revealed through your work since you depict water, capture seafarers, surfers, seagulls and fish on your canvas. What kind of sea creatures or ocean-related characters do you find particularly inspiring?

I find all sea creatures so fascinating. After I read the book DEEP I became so fascinated by whales and how the communicate. It’s out of this world.

Panthalassa translates the ocean into stories with powerful voices. Today, you’re one of them appearing as a major member of the Panthalassa Society. Can you tell us more about this collaboration?

Panthalassa embodies all the love and respect I feel for the ocean. I have been a part of the Panthalassa society since the beginning and it’s like a family. We are all driven by the same force of blue love so it’s really a perfect match for me to collaborate with them.

Today, through your work, you bring awareness to some environmental issues. You’ve been part of numerous projects like the recent “Stop Sucking: Say not to plastic straws!” campaign, reminding us that 500 million plastic straws are used every single day in the US today. According to you, do you use your creativity as a tool for climate action?

I think communicating through art is such a powerful tool, art knows no language, it speaks to the emotions so you feel touched and want to be a part of the solution. As individuals, we all have a responsibility to support a good cause we feel close to our hearts. First hand, I see how plastic pollution is destroying our oceans, how climate change is killing entire ecosystems so I do whaterver I can to help.

Do you have a favorite artwork so far?

Probably one of the first fisherman I ever draw that was inspired by Jacques Cousteau, named “Jacques”. I hold that one dearly because it really opened some kind of doors I had locked inside.

Earlier this year, you set your studio in the Panthalassa’s Blue Factory in San Sebastian, an interdisciplinary place, crossroad of the Panthalassa Society. Can you pay us a visit?

I used to work from home and was pretty much like a lone wolf. I had convinced myself the life of an artist was that of solitude. After a few years, it really started messing with my head and I found harder and harder to draw the border between work life and home life. Having my own studio is the best feeling in the world. Having my own space is sacred. I cannot wait for Mondays because I love coming to the Blue Factory so much. It has such a nice vibe, you can breathe creativity, you can smell the ocean. Since we opened it, a lot of people just knock at the door and come in. We’ve had people visiting from all over the world and it has this awesome sinergy going on.

Looking to the future, what can we look forward to coming up with you?

I am working on some collaborations and a future exhibition next summer at the Blue Factory Gallery.

Discover more of Dani Garreton’s work on her website.

The post Dani Garreton’s childlike creativity appeared first on PANTHALASSA.

If you walk in the next few days through the beaches of San Sebastian’s »La Concha« or Biarritz you may come across a special family. A family of plastic created by Panthalassa that aims to make visible the great amount of waste that ends up in the sea every day. »If the sea could see us, it would see us as plastic beings. Our seas are the destination for more than 8 million tons of plastic per year. « This impressive figure was the one that inspired its founder and creative director, Sergio Penzo, to partner with Rebecca Kudela and create the installation »Plastic Family«.

Each family in Spain and France produces an average of 145 kilos of plastic waste per year. Much of it goes in to the ocean, the same ocean that these families enjoy during the summer on their beach vacations. Recognizing ourselves as the source of the problem is the first step in modifying our habits, that is why we have created a typical family that exposes this reality and confronts us with the plastic crisis, a reflection that today is essential. At Panthalassa we believe that art has the ability to attract attention, while at the same time sending a message that resonates and lasts over time.

»Plastic Family« was created with plastic waste collected on in the main beaches of the Spanish and French Basque country during the month of August. With them, we have »dressed« a family that during the last week of August and September will be exposed on the same beaches to raise awareness among passers-by of the great responsibility we have in our daily decisions on reducing, recycling and reusing. For example avoiding buying or using single-use plastics.

This project was conceived by Sergio Penzo and its development has been under the artistic direction of Rebecca Kudela, a Californian designer based in Biarritz. It has been encouraging to see how this project has motivated friends and family and even holiday makers who have spontaneously joined the plastic collection tasks. 

Currently the world produces 300 million tons of plastic waste every year. This is almost equivalent to the weight of the entire human population, and half of this plastic is designed to be used only once. This data is provided by the UN Environment Program (UNEP). Researchers estimate that more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been manufactured since the early 1950s. Of these, only 9% have been recycled, around 12% have been incinerated, and the remaining 79% has not been recycled. It has ended up in the environment (landfills, garbage dumps and oceans). In the next decade, our oceans will have about one kilo of plastic per three kilograms of fish. Through the so-called microplastics, small plastic particles up to 5 mm in diameter, which are ingested by fish, enter our food chain. If current trends continue, our oceans may contain more plastic than fish by 2050.

Panthalassa is a platform that brings together creators who love the sea and who have set themselves the task of creating and spreading stories that put a spotlight on the fragility and beauty of our oceans. “Plastic Family” is their first project since they opened the gallery and collaborative space ‘Blue Factory’ with headquarters in San Sebastian, last July.

More about our work: Panthalassa.tv

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8 million tons of plastic garbage end up in the oceans each year, killing 1 million sea birds. That’s a reality. “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex is a gyre of marine debris in the central North Pacific Ocean. Discovered in 1997 by Captain Charles Moore, the massive dump of floating garbage is hard to accurately measure but is said to be twice the size of France. Two advertising creatives came up with the idea of imagining the « Trash Isles » as an official country recognised by the United Nations.

Thought up by ad creatives Michael Hughes and Dalatando Almeida, the campaign has been designed to raise awareness of climate change and pollution. Today, the campaign even has its own flag, passports, official stamps and a currency, “Debris,” designed by Mario Kerkstra and made of 20, 50 and 100-banknotes featuring whales, turtles and seals brutalized by floating trash. « We wanted to come up with a way to ensure world leaders can’t ignore it anymore, a way to stick it under their noses, literally, » say Hughes and Almeida to Creative Review.

Titled « Trash Isles », the campaign got the support of big names like Judi Dench, Mo Farah, The Plastic Oceans Foundation and publisher LADBible. The two partner organizations recently co-signed a letter sent to the United Nations requesting the recognition of the trash island as nation state in order to oblige other countries to clean it up under the UN’s Environmental Charter. 

As the country’s first citizen, former U.S vice president and environmental activist Al Gore made his first declaration : « We don’t want anymore plastic added so let’s come up with biodegradable materials instead of this junk. We’ll also have a price on carbon which will also affect the economic attractiveness of plastic, » he said. « 50 billion tons over the last 60 years, it’s completely aberrant. Plastic adds to the climate process, and, of course, it’s absolutely harming the oceans and some of them shows up in the fish that people eat now. It’s disgusting. The oceans are crucial to our survival and we need to protect them. »

As another trash island bigger than Mexico has been found in Pacific in July of this year, with microscopic plastic, resembling confetti floating off the coast of Chile and Peru, it’s more than ever important to get people to pay more attention to this rapidly growing issue. 

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Every year, 8 million metric tones of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans. The vast majority of the plastic waste is underwater. Ranging from plastic bags, bottles and tiny microbeads of plastic broken down, this frightening amount of trash threatens marine life and marine ecosystems. As nobody can solve this problem alone, the Parley AIR Strategy and Corona (global) joined to create a new alliance to end marine plastic pollution. Through creative collaboration and eco innovation, the alliance commits itself to bring change to the beverage industry and protect 100 islands by 2020, starting in six key regions – Mexico, Maldives, Australia, Chile, Italy, and Dominican Republic. 

« We are the worst enemy to the ocean, » lucidly says a quiet voice in the short film. Gathering artists, designers, filmmakers, marine biologists, musicians, photographers, and scientists, the initiative approaches the problem from different angles and in a multidisciplinary way. « I didn’t know I was affecting so much. I felt guilty in a way. Now I feel part of the problem, I can be part of the solution. » Engaging like-minded ambassadors able to represent the partnership in their countries, the initiative brings together a variety of different people like Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna, Chilean surfer Ramon Navarro, and Dominican actress and TV presenter Nashla Bogaert who all recently attended Parley Ocean School in the Maldives. « The collective experience marks the starting point of an idea: together Corona (global), Parley, and a select group of creative change-makers will turn 100 islands into symbols of change. » 

We are all connected to the sea. »The state of our islands is a powerful reminder of that fact. Plastic trash travels around the world and washes up on the most remote beaches, enclosing paradise with a belt of colorful plastic debris. It makes you understand that something is dead wrong. Plastic is a design failure, » explains Cyrill Gutsch, Parley for the Oceans Founder. « In Corona, we found the perfect partner to bring this philosophy and strategy to a new territory: the beverage sector. Economy caused this plastic problem in the first place, but with the transformative power of collaboration and Eco Innovation, we can make it the key to the solution.« 

If current marine pollution trends continue, the oceans will contain more plastic than fish by the year 2050. That’s what the alliance tends to stop. « To raise awareness and immediately reduce the production of new plastic, we invented Ocean Plastic (TM) from upcycled marine debris and developed a formula for long-term change — the Parley AIR Strategy: Avoid plastic; Intercept plastic debris; Redesign materials, products and the ways we use them,« says Gutsch.

Known for their long-term initiative « Save the Beach » engaging local communities to do beach cleanups across the world, Corona describes itself as « a brand committed to protecting its heart and homeland ». The partnership with Parley for the Oceans represents an evolution of Corona’s commitment to take care of the outdoors. Today, Corona already avoids plastic by using wood across its promotional materials and serving ice cold Coronas in metal buckets all around the world. Additionally, the brand commits itself to implement a plastic conscious philosophy across all aspects of the brand by adopting the Parley AIR Strategy, and reduce, and eventually replace, plastic items that are currently in use. 

Corona promised to take an immediate action: Redesign the Corona Sunsets, a series of events and festivals, in order to educate more than 350,000 consumers a year. The 100 islands definitely represent the most iconic symbols of Corona’s paradise. 

More infos about the initiative here.

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