— By Andru Shively — 

As delegates from 193 countries convened once more to try and construct a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty, another attendee joined them, engulfed in more than just thought about the plastics waste crisis literally laid bare before him.

Installed outside the Palais de Nations during the INC-5.2 negotiations in Geneva, The Thinker’s Burden is a six-metre-tall reimagining of Rodin’s timeless icon, who this time provides insight into his reflections.

Wrapped in a giant strand of DNA, the thinker sits atop Mother Earth, as heavy perhaps as our waste that weighs upon the world – all the while cradling a newborn, whose future remains uncertain amid a surging tide of plastics set to consume them.

The bearer of burdens was built by Benjamin Von Wong in collaboration with SLS Illusions, using a mix of papier-mâché, wood, steel, and living vines as a crowning detail. Local volunteers helped Von Wong collect, clean, and arrange the plastics waste items, gradually adding more each day from 4 to 14 August – “a growing wave that symbolises the cost of inaction”, according to the Canadian artist.

The negotiators have had much to think about. The burden now falls on them to act.