SNA (Tokyo) — Oceans containing more plastic waste than fish may seem like a dystopian fantasy, but by some estimates we may reach that point in the first half of this century. To heighten awareness of this crisis is Catherine Jane Fisher’s objective in her art display in a shop window near Shibuya Station.

Australia-born Fisher, a longtime resident of Japan, has been engaged in various forms of “healing art,” or art therapy, for a couple of decades, and recently her attention became focused on the global plastic pollution crisis.

According to her research, the average lifespan of a plastic bag is about twelve minutes, and many of these quickly-discarded materials find their way into an environment that is now choking with plastic waste.

“One million plastic bottles are bought every minute,” Fisher notes, “And I thought, ‘Okay, that means that I’m part of that problem. I’m the one that’s actually buying a plastic bottle.'”

She observes that 90% of seabirds have plastic inside of them–a specific theme which made it into her art installation–and microplastics can now be found in our own bodies. “There’s going to be more plastic in the ocean than fish,” she warns.

Fisher clarifies that she believes plastics became so popular for good reason, but better waste collection and management practices are absolutely needed, and single-use plastics should be phased out as much as possible.

She also perceives a broader lesson, observing, “Maybe we don’t really need to buy so many things. Being a minimalist is actually catching on right now, and we can look at our own selves and say, ‘Do I really need all of this stuff?'”

Fisher’s art display, titled Mama, I Can’t Swim, can be found in the front window of the Uematsu art supply shop next to Shibuya Hikarie. It will be featured until end of this month.

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