A 60kg dinosaur made entirely of recycled toys is the star of a new Sydney-based art exhibition 'Jurassic Plastic'.
Japanese contemporary artist and social activist Hiroshi Fuji has created a colourful landscape of dinosaurs using thousands of recycled and abandoned plastic toys, which were once headed for the rubbish pile.
The immersive exhibition will open next week as part of Sydney Festival to celebrate the arts and is aimed at both kids and grown-ups.
Mr Fuji said he encouraged his children to exchange their unwanted toys with other children in Japan.
Eventually, he collected thousands and his creative flair led to the recycled toy dinosaur exhibition, the dystopian-like sculptures have been dubbed 'Toysaurus'.
A sculpture from the Jurassic Plastic exhibit by Japanese artist Hiroshi Fuji. Source: Sydney Festival
“My daughter had a lot of this kind of dirty plastic toys, we decide in my family ‘OK try not to throw it away’,” he said.
“And the good toys going to the children, and the very dirty toys or broken toys I collect in my house, that was the start.”
He turned the unwanted toys into sprawling landscapes of colour and a place for children to play and learn.
About 50,000 toys have been used in the exhibition.
Japanese artist Hiroshi Fuji's 'Toysaurus' will be at Sydney's Town Hall until January 28. Source: Sydney Festival
Jurassic Plastic Curator Kathryn Hunyor said the dinosaur playground painted a picture of excess and mass consumption.
“As you wander around and look more and more you start to feel a little uneasy and you think about the excess and the mass consumption and childhood now is just filled with plastic,” she said.
The exhibition is interactive, giving guests of all ages the chance to make their own recycled masterpieces from discarded plastic toys.
- Additional reporting Natasha Christian
