The Plastic Bag Store (MA)

The Plastic Bag Store is a public art installation and immersive film experience by Brooklyn-based artist Robin Frohardt that uses humor, craft, and a critical lens to question our culture of consumption and convenience — specifically, the enduring effects of single-use plastics. The shelves are stocked with thousands of original, hand-sculpted items — produce and meat, dry goods and toiletries, cakes and sushi rolls — all made from discarded, single-use plastics in an endless cacophony of packaging. ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE: The entrance and box office to The Plastic Bag Store will be through the front doors of Building 1 to the left of Bright Ideas Brewing. During timed activations, visitors in groups of up to 40 people, step into The Plastic Bag Store which is then transformed into an immersive cinema, using inventive puppetry, shadow play, and intricate handmade sets to present a darkly comedic and sometimes tender story about the enduring effects of single-use plastics. ABOUT THE ARTIST: Robin Frohardt is an award-winning theater and film director known for her rich aesthetic and highly detailed constructions. Her narrative-based film, puppetry and sculpture, use recognizable materials, often trash, to create richly detailed worlds that make magic of the mundane and highlight the trivialities of daily life. Her theatrical work has earned her a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Creative Capital Award, and multiple Jim Henson Foundation Grants. Her play The Pigeoning hailed by The New York Times as “a tender, fantastical symphony of the imagination,” debuted in 2013 and continues to tour at home and abroad. Her follow-up project The Plastic Bag Store premiered in Times Square in 2020 and has since toured to Los Angeles, Chicago, Adelaide, and Austin. Her films have been official selections at The Telluride Film Festival, Aspen Shortsfest, The One Earth Film Festival, and BAM.