There Is No Away, 2015

Sean Martindale - Toronto, Canada

Sculpture

There Is No Away is a sculptural installation integrated with video that examines our consumer habits and waste systems, and the City of Toronto's Long Term Waste Management Strategy. The phrase "There Is No Away" is attributed to influential ecologist Barry Commoner who is considered one of the founders of the modern environmental movement and who proposed four laws of ecology. His second law, “Everything must go somewhere”, means there is no “away” to which things can be thrown.

Our culture is profoundly disconnected from the true scope and scale of our waste systems, and the impacts we can have both as individuals and collectively as a city. The sheer amount of waste and recyclable material that needs to be managed by the City of Toronto is astounding.

Martindale's installation hopes to bring awareness to the huge and incomprehensible amount of garbage and waste that is discarded, the limited landfill space left, and to make an impact on people’s actions, the choices they make, the things they purchase and how they manage those purchases.

Martindale is an internationally recognized interdisciplinary artist & designer. His interventions activate public spaces to encourage engagement on ecological & social issues. His works question & suggest alternate possibilities for infrastructures & materials found in urban environments. He holds an MFA from OCAD U & a BDES from Emily Carr U.

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Watch There is No Away

114

City Hall

100 Queen Street West (East side of City Hall along Bay Street)

This project is outdoors.