{"id":758,"date":"2016-10-11T10:32:07","date_gmt":"2016-10-11T15:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/?p=758"},"modified":"2016-11-29T12:40:25","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T18:40:25","slug":"artist-alejandro-duran-and-sian-kaan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/news\/artist-alejandro-duran-and-sian-kaan","title":{"rendered":"Artist Alejandro Dur\u00e1n and Sian Ka\u2019an"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inspiring change through his thought-provoking artwork, multimedia artist <strong>Alejandro Dur\u00e1n<\/strong> has literally taken trash and turned it into treasure. \u00a0Originally from Mexico City and currently based in Brooklyn, New York, Dur\u00e1n\u2019s project <\/span><strong><i>Washed Up <\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">takes the international debris that washes ashore along the coastline of <strong>Sian Ka\u2019an<\/strong>, located on the Caribbean in Mexico, and creates environmental installations designed with plastic garbage which are then photographed. \u00a0His work has been on exhibit in several galleries and has garnered attention and praise from several prestigious media sources including <strong>National Geographic<\/strong>, <strong>ABC News<\/strong> and the <strong>Huffington Post<\/strong>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Art in the Sian Ka\u2019an Biosphere<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-760\" src=\"http:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/art-in-the-sian-kaan-biosphere.jpg\" alt=\"Art in the Sian Ka\u2019an Biosphere\" width=\"879\" height=\"367\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/art-in-the-sian-kaan-biosphere.jpg 879w, https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/art-in-the-sian-kaan-biosphere-800x334.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/art-in-the-sian-kaan-biosphere-768x321.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 879px) 100vw, 879px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dur\u00e1n has traced the origins of the plastic waste he uses in his installations to fifty-three nations and territories on six continents and counting. \u00a0This garbage has all found its way onto the shores of the coastline of Sian Ka\u2019an, which is Mexico\u2019s largest federally protected reserve and an UNESCO World Heritage site. \u00a0He uses this international rubbish to produce site-specific sculptures, employing various items within the same color family for impact such as shoes and bottles. \u00a0His sculptures imitate items found in nature such as algae, fruit, rivers, roots or waves to make a statement about the invasion that the environment has experienced by plastics. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Trash Sculptures<\/b><\/h2>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-758 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/news\/artist-alejandro-duran-and-sian-kaan\/attachment\/trash-sculptures'><img width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trash-sculptures-300x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Trash Sculptures\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trash-sculptures-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trash-sculptures-120x120.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/news\/artist-alejandro-duran-and-sian-kaan\/attachment\/trash-sculptures-2'><img width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trash-sculptures-2-300x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trash-sculptures-2-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trash-sculptures-2-120x120.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/news\/artist-alejandro-duran-and-sian-kaan\/attachment\/trash-sculptures-3'><img width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trash-sculptures-3-300x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trash-sculptures-3-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/trash-sculptures-3-120x120.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Upon first glance, his sculptures are a beautiful sight to behold, yet upon further inspection, they make it clear that the ocean is faced with a horrifying problem: an abundance of unwanted plastics. \u00a0The purpose of his installations runs so much deeper than making surreal artwork; he is hoping to change the way we look at plastics and spark a conversation about our disposable culture. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His photo series highlights the serious predicament the consumerism of modern society has created. \u00a0It is especially disturbing when you realize that this garbage has been washing ashore upon undeveloped land in a federally protected reserve, making it clear that almost no place on earth is safe from the negative impact it is causing. \u00a0The <\/span><strong><i>Washed Up <\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">project in <strong>Sian Ka\u2019an<\/strong> isn\u2019t just altering a landscape that has been filled with unwanted plastic trash; it aims to raise awareness about our complicated relationship with consumption and hopes to change how we deal with waste. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can learn more about the <\/span><strong><i>Washed Up <\/i><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">project and get involved by visiting Alejandro Duran\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.alejandroduran.com\/.\" target=\"_blank\">website<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inspiring change through his thought-provoking artwork, multimedia artist Alejandro Dur\u00e1n has literally taken trash and turned it into treasure. \u00a0Originally from Mexico City and currently based in Brooklyn, New York, Dur\u00e1n\u2019s project Washed Up takes the international debris that washes ashore along the coastline of Sian Ka\u2019an, located on the Caribbean in Mexico, and creates environmental installations designed with plastic garbage which are then photographed. \u00a0His work has been on exhibit in several galleries and has garnered attention and praise from several prestigious media sources including National Geographic, ABC News and the Huffington Post. \u00a0 Art in the Sian Ka\u2019an Biosphere Dur\u00e1n has traced the origins of the plastic waste he uses in his installations to fifty-three nations and territories on six continents and counting. \u00a0This garbage has all found its way onto the shores of the coastline of Sian Ka\u2019an, which is Mexico\u2019s largest federally protected reserve and an UNESCO World Heritage site. \u00a0He uses this international rubbish to produce site-specific sculptures, employing various items within the same color family for impact such as &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.siankaanvillage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/artist-alejandro-duran-and-sian-kaan.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Artist Alejandro Dur\u00e1n and Sian Ka\u2019an<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Inspiring change through his thought-provoking artwork, multimedia artist Alejandro Dur\u00e1n has literally taken trash and turned it into treasure.\" \/>\n<meta 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