Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Dali, Picasso, Bernini, Botticelli, da Vinci, amongst others, in

The contamination of life with plastic pollution and humanity’s lethargic response to the problem is an unfolding terror: a story of Gothic horror unfolding in contemporary times. The power of Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel Frankenstein looms over the current terror of plastic pollution to encourage changes to the materials we create, use and discard. In Frankenstein, a monster was spawned in a process that desecrates the act of creating new life. Similarly, in my work of art Microplastics Found in Human Embryo, the depiction of an embryo is desecrated by plastic contamination. Frankenstein was unable to control his monster, and, denied empathy and love, the monster killed Frankenstein’s loved ones and haunted its creator’s soul. As microplastics are largely unseen, and increasing exponentially, they are becoming a modern monster. Microplastics can cross the placenta and the blood brain barrier, endangering the life and health of our children, potentially robbing us of progeny, and the future of humankind. Over the past two hundred years, Frankenstein has functioned as a shadowy mnemonic tale, haunting scientists and technologists by reminding them to consider the impacts of their creations. Shelley’s message, if applied to the current dangers of the “Age of Plastic”, might help us to clean up plastic pollution and embrace sustainable materials. In this spirit, Microplastics Found in Human Embryo reveals a monstrous idea, which aims to help awaken us from complacency and convince humanity to form a relationship which sustains all forms of life on Earth.Keywords: Plastic, Pollution, Environment, Art, Frankenstein, Horror, Monster, Gothic

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to promote narrative inquiry as a legitimate research approach for artists undertaking postgraduate research higher degrees. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes the form of a literature review describing practice-led research. It draws heavily on theories of art to support its claims. Findings In creative arts postgraduate research degrees, where the thesis is delivered in the form of artifacts and an exegesis, new knowledge and understandings are produced in two fields. In the first of these two fields, new theoretical knowledge detailing the conceptual basis for the creative work may contribute to the understanding of the purpose and nature of art. The second field of new knowledge involves artifacts as they can enlarge knowledge about what the author feel and know through images that illuminate experiences and understandings of life. The development and delivery of these forms of new knowledge occur in an interdependent manner. Originality/value The original contribution of this paper is the manner in which artifacts are shown to demonstrate the theoretical knowledge claims articulated in the exegesis Furthermore, this paper highlights the significance and value of new knowledge and the manner in which this knowledge is effectively shared.

The works of art in the exhibition Exodus: Coral Bleaching and Heat Stress call attention to habitat degradation due to climate change. Cyclones and bleaching events have resulted in the loss of fifty percent of the coral cover in the Great Barrier Reef over the past three decades. The capacity for art to secure belief through reflective understanding is argued in relation to the moral predicament of anthropogenic climate change. The sublime is recast in the form of the eco-sublime, allowing for new ways of feeling and imaging our place in a world where our innocence in relation to climate change has been lost.

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