Sarah Nicholson is asking members of the public to donate clear plastic bottles of any shape and size, which will be used to create a glowing sculptural art installation

People living and working in Liverpool’s commercial district can contribute to a new piece of art and reduce their carbon footprint at the same time.

Artist Sarah Nicholson is asking members of the public to donate clear plastic bottles of any shape and size, which will be used to create a glowing sculptural art installation as part of this month’s Liverpool Light Night festival.

There are two drop-off points – at the Bixteth Street entrance to the Cotton Exchange and at the main reception of The Plaza – and Sarah is hoping collect almost 500 clean bottles without lids or labels.

The finished work will be suspended from various vantage points above Queen Avenue, Liverpool’s only remaining 19th Century arcade.

While it will come to life as darkness falls, the installation will also work as a sculptural form in the daylight, creating a floating, translucent ‘ghost’ meandering through the arcade.

It has been commissioned by arts organisation dot-art and commercial property firm Bruntwood, which owns number of properties throughout the city region, including Queen Arcade and the Queen Insurance Buildings.

It will be unveiled on Friday, May 19, to coincide with the city-wide Light Night festival, which offers a unique way to explore Liverpool’s cultural treasures during the evening.

Sarah said: “The proposed work will comprise of 450 plastic bottles (one for each year that it takes for an average bottle to degrade) skilfully and imaginatively reworked into a glowing wonder world, reminiscent of an underwater paradise.

“The human race is in too much of a hurry to pay attention to the damage that our plastic addiction is causing to the other inhabitants of the planet: we take an instant to discard an object which we take for granted and the raw materials for which took millions of years to develop.

“We want this project to explore the sublime; the ‘oh, gosh’ moment when we encounter something that momentarily catches us and lifts us out of the everyday.

“We would love as many people as possible to bring their used plastic bottles to our drop-off points and make their own special contribution to an exciting piece of art.”

For further information, visit http://dot-art.co.uk or http://lightnightliverpool.co.uk.