The Plastic Bag Store questions the permanence of the disposable
Last year, before the pandemic, as we were hard at work planning CAP UCLA’s 2020-21 season, one of the biggest challenges we faced was how to get The Plastic Bag Store, an art installation the size of an actual grocery store, from New York City to Los Angeles.
The Plastic Bag Store, the most recent work by Brooklyn-based artist, director and puppet designer Robin Frohardt, was initially conceived as an immersive installation and puppet-theater piece to take place in a storefront retail space. What at first appeared to be an unassuming grocery store was, upon further examination, an installation of objects entirely constructed from plastic grocery packaging. In all, more than 10,000 pieces of single-use plastic trash were used to create it. While visiting the store, patrons would sit on crates of plastic tomatoes to watch a tongue-in-cheek puppet show about how the plastic waste of our era will be misinterpreted by future generations.
“I became obsessed with the foreverness of plastic,” said Frohardt. “My aim is not to make people feel bad, my aim is to hold up a mirror and point out the absurdity of all this.”
Produced by longtime CAP UCLA collaborators, Pomegranate Arts, The Plastic Bag Store was originally meant to open in March 2020 in Times Square, as a public art program of Times Square Arts, to coincide with New York City’s plastic bag ban. The installation was delayed by the COVID-19 lockdown until October, when The Plastic Bag Store was able to open for a small audience observing socially distanced safety protocols. It received rave reviews and was included on The New York Times’ Best of 2020 Theater list.
In an effort to still share the project with Los Angeles audiences, CAP UCLA commissioned Plastic Bag Store: The Film, a tragicomic satire about consumption, capitalism and the permanence of the “disposable” waste which premiered on CAP UCLA Online in celebration of Earth Day. Due to the success of the film and countless hours of strategizing and coordinating, CAP UCLA recently announced that the installation would, at long last, arrive in L.A. and be open to the public on June 30.
“This has been years in the making, and Robin Frohardt has created something that is singular and amazing. The Plastic Bag Store is the story – one with purpose – of an artist who put a lot of small things into a rather big thing, thanks in part to friends stockpiling plastic material for her,” said Kristy Edmunds, CAP UCLA Executive and Artistic Director. “Since we took up the idea of bringing The Plastic Bag Store to L.A. – not exactly a small gesture – I have learned so much about how to even comprehend the scale of plastics from working on this project.”
The Plastic Bag Store will take place in a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles and timed admission will be available to visit the “store” throughout the day. Inside The Plastic Bag Store installation rotisserie chickens, dry goods and toiletries, cupcakes and sushi, popular products such as Yucky Shards cereal and Bagorade sports drink, are among the thousands of hand sculpted items displayed on the store shelves. Several times a day the “store” will transform into a dynamic live experience in which a puppet film, performers and intricate handmade sets tell the darkly comedic, sometimes tender story of how the overabundance of plastic waste we leave behind might be misinterpreted by future generations.
"The Plastic Bag Store is a visually rich, tactile, and humorous experience that hopefully encourages a different way of thinking about the foreverness of plastic, the permanence of the disposable, and that there is no ‘away’ when we throw something out,” explained Frohardt. “It is my attempt to make something authentic and human from that which is mass-produced. There is great humor to be found in the pitfalls of capitalism, and I find that humor and satire can be powerful tools for social criticism especially with issues that feel too sad and overwhelming to confront directly."
Because of the magnitude of the project and the power of art to effect change, CAP UCLA is partnering with other L.A. arts and community organizations, including the Institute for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Skirball Cultural Center; Aquarium of the Pacific and Art at the Rendon, Plastic Pollution Coalition; Friends of L.A. River; UCLA’s Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies and Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA.
“When we introduced The Plastic Bag Store to organizations working on the environmental side it was like stepping across a threshold of feeling overwhelmed to feeling empowered,” said Edmunds. “When an artist’s creativity is conjoined with research, knowledge and enthusiasm – which is exactly what has happened with our extended collaborators in the advocacy and sustainability communities – the impossible becomes incredibly possible!”
The Plastic Bag Store is on view at 661 Imperial Street in downtown Los Angeles, from Wednesday, June 30 through July 11. Reservations for timed entry to the installation are required. A maximum of 35 people will be allowed entry every half hour. Tickets: Free with suggested donation of $10 per person.
Advanced tickets are required for the live immersive experience. Duration: 60 mins. Capacity is limited to 35 people per show. Tickets are $35 general admission; $15 for students age 12 & up with I.D. Exhibition access and tickets for the live experience are limited. Learn more here.
