Finding a plastic water bottle or soda can littered about has somehow become part of the beach-going experience. The trash seems normal to us – just another example of human disregard for the planet. So, what happens when these pieces of trash are taken from the beach, and put into an art-world setting? With his piece Sandstars, Gabriel Orozco attempts to do just that. In an act of aesthetic politics, Orozco went to a beach in Mexico and collected about 1,200 stray junk objects from the premises. Orozco meticulously organized and photographed these junk items, and later installed them in a “white cube” museum setting for viewing. In displacing these trash objects, Orozco disrupts unconscious, desensitized acceptance of littered beaches. Viewers can then proceed how they wish, as they are exposed to – but not impelled to change – the ramifications of poor environmental practices.