Sydney Harbour Mucktail (2019)
by Leon Lester
Glass, Plastic, Metal, Sand and Water
60cm x 40cm
The Sydney Harbour Mucktail is an invitation to celebrate life with an exotic cocktail at the expense of the environment. While at one of the most beautiful harbours in the world, drink from its waters that now contain a toxic mix of plastic and micro plastic pollution, bacteria and faecal matter from sewer system run-off and dioxins that make Sydney Harbour one of the most contaminated waterways in the world. Tests indicate that directly outside Homebush Bay dioxin levels are 300 times those found in a natural, uncontaminated environment. Dioxins are categorised as carcinogens and are have been linked with birth defects and skin conditions. High dioxin levels in fish feeding areas means that there are fish in the Harbour that have been poisoned and are, in turn, poisonous to eat. The Sydney Harbour Mucktail invites you to put this science to the test and prove to yourself that the beauty of Sydney Harbour is now only ‘skin deep’. What was once a pristine waterway that was lovingly and carefully maintained by its original custodians, the Australia Aboriginal people of the Eora Nation, is now a noxious cesspool that is harmful to all life. The Sydney Harbour Mucktail is designed to strongly question the level of progress humanity has made while pursing a lifestyle based on Western European values
