Migrating Birds Mimicking the Structure of Polyethylene Molecules

Craft store birds and mixed media, 2009.

Approx 12’ x 4’ x 25’

Since most of them do not biodegrade at any appreciable rate, and no living organisms currently on earth can eat them, synthetic polymers may prove to be one of mankind’s most long-lasting creations. As discarded plastics are carried by the wind across the ground, or washed against rocks by ocean waves, they are broken down into tinier and tinier bits. As minute particles, it can travel throughout the environment in more subtle and insidious ways.

Why do these birds fly in these formations? Maybe plastic particles ingested in their food have reprogrammed their brains, or perhaps over evolutionary time these birds have sensed that they may have something to gain by mimicking the structure of these molecules that are so durable.