Feel4Planet is an association founded by four young girls from Setúbal. One of their goals is to raise awareness of the problem of cigarette butts in the environment. In 2018, they made a partnership with Ana Quintino, an emerging artist from the city, and created an exhibition made of cigarette butts.
"SEA ANIMALS"
It has been proven how harmful cigarette butts are for the entire ecosystem, and their presence in all public spaces where, without thinking about consequences and by the force of the habit, they are thrown to the ground. This exhibition was created to make the community aware of the number of cigarette butts that are still thrown on the ground and end up contaminating the sea and the soils. As Setúbal is a city strongly connected to the river and the sea that bathe it, the pieces represent some of the marine life that is at risk, mainly due to the chemicals from the lixiviation of the butt that become toxic to fauna and flora, but also because of the microplastics from the degradation of the butt. These art pieces were created with the cigarette butts collected in beaches, gardens, riverside areas and the city center of Setúbal, and counted one by one, for one year. With them we aim to raise awareness for the incorrect disposal of cigarette butts and their dangers to the environment.
Written by Feel4Planet
1. Polvo (Octopus), técnica mista (mixed technique), 45 x 90 x 27 cm, 2018
2. Caranguejo (Crab), técnica mista (mixed technique), 25 x 37 x 37 cm, 2018
3. Peixe (Fish), técnica mista (mixed techcnique), 50 x 33 x 21 cm, 2018
4. Choco (Cuttlefish), técnica mista (mixed techcnique), 50 x 20 x 20 cm, 2018
5. Estrela do Mar (Starfish), técnica mista (mixed technique), 40 x 45 x 12 cm, 2018
"ABSTRACT PIECES"
The cigarette butt and the actions that surround it are one of the deadliest and silent ways with which we have been slowly destroying our world. It’s such a small object and yet it has so much impact. The pollution that comes from the lixiviation and degradation of them changes the environment without us noticing. Now we have the knowledge to protect ourselves. These were the thoughts that made these sculptures. They are built to represent the negative characteristics that come from our actions with shapes that remind us of natural things, however the names call for the lethal side of their existence. This way we’ll be reminded to preserve in order to recover our planet.
Written by Ana Quintino
- Esqueleto Doura Perdura Contamina (Skeleton Brown Persist Contaminate), técnica mista (mixed techcnique), 32 x 58 x 30 cm, 2018
- Fio de Silêncio sem Fim (Thread of Silence without End), técnica mista (mixed techcnique), 50 x 50 x 50 cm, 2018
About FEEL4PLANET
Feel4Planet is a non-profit association, founded by four young girls living in the district of Setúbal, and from various fields of study. Focusing its action on protecting the environment and natural resources, Feel4Planet aims to reduce the environmental impact generated by the high production of waste, namely cigarette butts. Environmental education and social responsibility are the association’s pillars. To achieve the objectives, group activities related to solving the problems encountered are promoted in beaches, green areas and the city center, which promote dialogue and discussion, providing knowledge for the realization of correct choices and attitudes on a daily basis, taking into account the future of the human being and the environment. As such, the organization’s motto is: “Teaming up for a sustainable future”.
In April 2018, Feel4Planet inaugurated the exhibition “Cigarette butt on the ground, on the sea, on the sand: a dangerous journey”, elaborated with cigarette butts collected in Setúbal in 2017 and 2018 which came to life in the hands of Ana Quintino, an emerging artist from Setúbal.
Ana Quintino, born in 1989, showed a particular interest in color, its application and its visual impact from an early age, something that ended up becoming characteristic of her work. She exhibited for the first time, in 2011, even before finishing her course in Caldas da Rainha, and exhibited internationally in 2012, at the 4th International Art Exhibition C. de Extremadura in Spain. Since then she has held several exhibitions and collaborated in several group exhibitions, exploring various mediums and artistic expressions. As an artist, she seeks to accept the error as part of the process and that is why, when creating, she intentionally wants the lack of control because the place where she creates has few rules, some order and the connection to her need to remember that lack of control is something inherent to being human. From a very young age, the notion of reusing was very present in her life, as such, in her work as an artist she uses the maximum amount of waste that she produces, building art pieces that are based on these materials either in an ideological sense or just for their material use.