DESIGN
Art
A New Narrative
An international collective of creators seeks to raise curiosity about the global plastics pollution crisis through art and storytelling BY MISTY MILIOTO
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Later this year, artist Matt Willey will complete a large mural in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, depicting a number of honey bees. It’s part of a larger project, dubbed “The Good of Hive,” which eventually will include murals around the world depicting a total of 50,000 bees. Willey is currently seven years into the project, and he has created more than 9,000 bees in murals and installations so far. However, this mural also is part of an even larger project, called the Magnify Initiative (co-funded by the Cosmic Foundation and the Plastic Solutions Fund), which aims to raise awareness about plastics pollution and industrial transition — and possible solutions — on a global scale. The Magnify Initiative brings together three renowned artists from three continents in regions that are strongly connected
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to some of the largest petrochemical hubs in the world (Baton Rouge, Port of Antwerp, Belgium and Taipei, Taiwan). When Willey first met Camille Duran, the producer of the Magnify Initiative, he knew he wanted to be involved. ““The Good of the Hive” has always been about more than bees,” he says. “But as a bit of an accidental activist, I often feel alone in trying to figure out how I can best shape a message around my work. Magnify not only offers a vehicle to help
