WASTELAND is an artwork consisting of a system of concrete actions unfolding through time and various locations in order to disseminate on the international scene a series of “clues” about the existence of a nation of my invention, called Garbage Patch State. More information on The Garbace Patch State, and on the personal website of the artist Maria Cristina Finucci
![UNESCO, Paris, 2013. Photo courtesy of Maria Cristina Finucci WASTELAND is an artwork consisting of a system of concrete actions unfolding through time and various locations in order to disseminate on the international scene a series of “clues” about the existence of a nation - the Garbage Patch State - founded by the artist Maria Cristina Finucci in 2013.](https://files.climateforesight.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/24200226/Unesco_Paris_2013.png)
![Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, 2013. Photo courtesy of Maria Cristina Finucci The aim of the work is to better inform the public about the existence of vast assemblages of plastic material in the oceans, called Garbage Patch – one of the most serious phenomena of environmental pollution yet sadly overlooked, precisely because of its lack of iconic identification.](https://files.climateforesight.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/24200210/Venice_Biennale-2013.png)
![Postcard from the Garbage Patch State. Photo courtesy of Maria Cristina Finucci Wasteland was conceived by Maria Cristina Finucci to create that tangible image which the Garbage Patch was lacking, so as to better convey its existence. Finucci created a plausible semantic apparatus consisting of a flag, a birth registry, a mythology, a web portal, etc., without neglecting more trivial elements such as postcards.](https://files.climateforesight.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/24200300/Immagine3.png)
![U.N. Headquarters, New York, 2014. Photo courtesy of Maria Cristina Finucci It is therefore a fiction, but structured in such a way as to uncover a reality that would otherwise remain hidden.](https://files.climateforesight.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/24200243/NewYork_UN_2014_2.png)
![COP21, Paris, 2015. Photo courtesy of Maria Cristina Finucci](https://files.climateforesight.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/24200234/Paris_COP21_2015_3.png)
![Conference Bluemed, Venezia, 2015. Photo courtesy of Maria Cristina Finucci](https://files.climateforesight.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/24200218/Venice_2015_2.png)
![Mozia Island, 2016. Photo courtesy of Maria Cristina Finucci Through several exhibitions in Venice, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Paris, and New York, the project has developed over the years and landed in 2016 on the island of Mozia, in Sicily, with the monumental installation “Help, The age of Plastic”.](https://files.climateforesight.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/24200252/Mozia_2016_3.png)
![Basilica Giulia, Rome, 2018 [render]. Photo courtesy of Maria Cristina Finucci The latest artwork of Maria Cristina Finucci, titled "HELP the Ocean", has been unveiled on June 8, 2018, World Oceans Day, at the Basilica Giulia in Rome. Composed by a set of gabions in wire mesh, covered with an embroidery of six million colored plastic caps, "HELP the Ocean" wants to simulate a archaeological discovery that could be emblematic of our era, renamed as the "The age of Plastic". The exhibition of "HELP the Ocean" in Rome is open from June 8 until July 29, 2018.](https://files.climateforesight.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/24200308/Help_the_ocean_render_png.png)