Hong Kong is the world' greatest consumer of plastic bags - 33 million are dumped in landfills every day. To draw attention to the problem, the Artist Commune and the Green Student Council are holding the No Plastic Bag installation exhibition and Student Poster Design Competition at Cattle Depot Artist Village. Works by four local artists - Kum Chi-keung, Lam Yuk-lin, Mok Yat-sun and Siy Tak-yin - will be showcased alongside winning entries of student posters centred on the theme of environmental protection. Mok's work, Reading, is a book made of plastic bags. He cut out patterns of living things and common objects from plastic and pinned them to a wall. The work questions whether everything should be made from plastic. Siy's installation piece Reborn comprises a roomful of plastic human heads, each wrapped individually in a red cocoon. The work portrays the struggle between humans and nature. Siy said she faced a dilemma in choosing plastic over traditional materials, such as glass or clay, to create the piece. 'I asked myself whether it was environmentally unfriendly to use plastic in my work,' she said. 'But I didn't think it would be a waste of resources, so long as the materials were used appropriately. Protecting the environment is not just about [not using] plastic. It's also about making good use of resources.' Lam's work, Book of Mountains and Seas - Hong Kong Version, contains strange and magical animals made from plastic bags collected from a family. 'People store plenty of plastic bags at home, although they may not be aware of it,' said Lam. 'It's proof that we take more plastic bags than we need.' Kum's work is made of two fish tanks: one with real fish but artificial water weeds, and the other with real water weeds but artificial fish. It explores the possibility of a balanced world where humans and plastic co-exist. 'Everything has a limit, and things will backfire once they are pushed over their limit,' said Kum. 'Human progress does harm to nature, which will not warn us verbally, but instead take action by showing us through natural catastrophes.' Near the exhibition area is a plastic skeleton, named The Plastic Bag God by students, which mocks society's reliance on plastic. 'We do not oppose the use of plastic bags, but it must not be excessive,' said Cheng Hok-fai, a committee member of the Green Student Council. 'The situation is completely out of control, as we are using plastic bags for almost everything.' The exhibition runs until November 3. For more information, visit www.artist-commune.com or call 2104 3322.