SWIMMING IN BLUE – Science meets art

An art and plastic project by Hendrik Hackl

Microplastics:
Particles smaller than five millimeters, created by the decomposition of plastic under UV light, by abrasion from tires, synthetic fibers, and packaging.
Tiny fragments that have long since entered our air, our water, and our food.

Studies show:
Microplastics accumulate in soil, rivers, and oceans, ending up in fish, birds, and ultimately in the human organism.
They can disrupt metabolism, cause inflammation, upset the balance of intestinal flora, and even affect the brain and heart - and initial evidence points to possible damage to genetic material.

Despite all this, much remains unknown:
How much microplastic can a human being absorb?
How long does it remain in organs, how deeply does it penetrate our tissue?
And how does it change generations whose bodies have contained it since birth?

These questions form the backdrop to the art project SWIMMING IN BLUE.

Is humanity swimming toward its end? When will Homo sapiens become extinct? (Photo animation)

 

The project – the sculpture
A skeleton, 370 centimeters long, produced using 3D printing from the filament of 555 recycled PET bottles, floats through the Anthropocene in the pose of a swimmer – as a model, as a metaphor, as a warning.

Its bones are made almost entirely from recycled PET waste.
The light blue color is reminiscent of Arctic ice,but it is also the color of invisibility:
in natural waters, blue becomes one with the water—like the microplastics that have long been part of our food chain.

It swims fast.
It crawls.
It moves through a time when humans have become the greatest influencing factor on life on this planet.

But art can ask questions, science can seek answers – and together they can open up new ways to stop the flow of plastic and restore balance with nature.

SWIMMING IN BLUE is part of the cycle Art-Material Evolution – Human, Fossil, Plastic by Mannheim artist Hendrik Hackl.

The project is currently in the planning phase - 3D printing is expected to begin in March 2026.

 

The following installations are currently planned:

WASSERWERK Mannheim-Käfertal - Solo exhibition on Heritage Day 2026
MUNICH SHOW 2026 - The plan is to juxtapose the two installations THE CLOSED CIRCLE and SWIMMING IN BLUE - or rather, to have them swim toward each other and float...