R u ok?

My friend texted me out of the blue. So I called her to find out what might be the case I was not okay. She said she’s afraid she might find me in the ditch because this afternoon I mentioned about a man I met but haven’t had a chance to finish the story. We had a good laugh and looked forward to sharing stories when we spend a night in Sanur this week.

I was in shower before dark just now when the thought came up again. I had an idea the other day to make an art installation for my garden out of plastic containers collected from my daily life. I have a lot of loud green yogurt containers by now. I didn’t throw them away because the size is good for jars in kitchen but I don’t need. My masseuse and cousin in Denpasar had said no to those. They got more than they need already. And 1-liter mineral water bottles? I don’t use 1-gallon bottle since I don’t drink that much and travel a lot. The latter is not that bad but yogurt drink bottles, shampoo and conditioner bottles, skin care pots, mouthwash bottles, oooh you name it! It’s a lot! I feel bad that I haven't found out how to recycle. If I’m going to make an art installation, I need to collect them first till the amount is enough to start. I thought. But how should I collect them? Putting them outside? I don’t like starting an installation out of worn stuff like a real garbage although the idea is still the same. An artwork out of garbage!!

I kept the idea for a week or two then decided to forget about it. Since I live by myself, I might not have the right speed to start an artwork soon. And, I don’t have enough space in the house to pool the ‘clean garbage.’ If I do outside, my gardener might think I’m a crazy woman who likes to live with garbage. But… the past week, again, I feel bothered by the plastic containers I put in trash can. If I have patience, the artwork can be started before end of the year actually. If I thought I might hardly come to the right amount of material, then it might be there before I know it. Now, it’s there in the dump! Not in my collection.

So today when I saw a man walk carrying a fishing-net-like around with a mmm pincers (I don’t remember the right term – a tool to pick up things), I thought about my project again. When I saw him after yoga, his net was still empty, but when I saw him again later in the afternoon he already got a bagful of plastic bottles. I wish I could contribute to his collection. This thing bothers me since I don’t spend time to think about it more seriously. Thing I should do, following my late Mama’s path. She was so good in taking care of used plastic. She practiced recycle and reuse. Practically anything.

Another thing to ponder.

Trash labels in a project in South Jakarta.