Beautiful Bottle Caps? Really?

Yes, really. This photo doesn't quite do justice to an art installation, called "be like water," currently on exhibit at The Skybox in Fishtown. So my imperfect words must describe what has to be the most lovely and ingenious re-use of plastic bottles and caps you'll ever gaze upon and wonder, "How did they do that?"

Better yet, you should go see it for yourself. The Skybox is the massive, two-story atrium located within 2424 Studios,  at 2424 E. York St.,  whose lofts house eclectic businesses with a creative bent.  One of the residents  is art curator Eileen Tognini, who commissioned last year's funky and beautiful "Titan and the Firelies," a crazy exhibit that made wonderful use of the gallery's huge space

"Be Like Water," another Tognini commission, is just as arresting. Created by artist Aurora Robson, with copious help from students at city public, private, community and charter schools, the installation uses thousands of plastic bottles and caps, collected by the kids, to create ethereal, delicate, crystal-like forms that gitter and sway on suspended filament. Walking under them is like gliding beneath dangling ice sculpures.

But the work's intended effect is bigger than that, says Robson.

"My work is largely about transforming something negative into something positive, recognizing and exploring potential.  ... The installation comprised of bottles and caps that would otherwise be burdensome on the environment. Instead, I have transformed them to create what I hope is suggestive of an uplifting waterfall of light and form," she writes on The Skybox website.

She notes that plastic bottle caps are especially problematic as they do not get recycled, and end up in landfills and oceans — likely to be ingested by birds and fish due to their opacity and bright colors. In a joint effort to raise environmental awareness, bottle caps that have been collected and sorted by students are also displayed at the event. When the exhibit ends, Robson will deliver all of the bottle caps to Aveda, located in Babylon, NY, one of the only places in the country that recycles caps.

"be like water," which opened last Friday, is on display Tuesdays through Saturdays, from noon to 6pm. It closes Nov. 7th.