What happens when a crisis catches you so off guard that it makes you physically ill and deeply depressed? You experience the loss of the world as it once was. Psychologists call this ambiguous loss: the world still exists, but something essential seems to have been taken from you. Lawlessness, pollution, climate change and an economy relentlessly propelled by profit and growth can together awaken a profound sense of powerlessness, of mourning for something intangible that seems to be gone forever. Grief can spark anger and action, but also acceptance and resignation: let the storm rage. In the plastic sea, modern Europe reveals itself in all its nakedness.

In southern Spain lies Europe’s largest vegetable garden: an endless sea of plastic greenhouses, visible even from space. Thanks to abundant sunshine and efficient water use, it supplies cheap vegetables and fruit to our supermarkets. But behind this efficiency lie the exploitation of migrants, inhumane living conditions, and ecological devastation. How long will Europe tolerate exploitation and ecological ruin—all for the sake of cheap produce?

“What makes the work so compelling is how seemingly effortlessly the larger story is being told while a large number of individuals from a large number of backgrounds get to tell part of their personal story. Without these details, the story would be too abstract, inviting the kinds of simple solutions and/or explanations that have fueled the rise of far-right parties.”
—Jörg Colberg, Conscientious

The exhibition, Plastic Sea, Perfect Storm, will be on view from October 3, 2026, through March 7, 2027 at Kunsthal Rotterdam.

Text / Texto
Arnold van Bruggen
Photography / Fotografía
Rob Hornstra
Print run / Tirada
1,000 copies / copias
Paperback
264pp + 32 pp insert
Dimensions
230 x 275 x 22 mm
Bilingual
Spanish / English