"3 Seconds and Counting"

Michael Mayo inside of Karl L. Larsen’s sculpture “3 Seconds and Counting.”

“It looks like a party in here,” a young girl tells me inside of Karl L. Larsen’s newest art installation along the Congaree River, “I always wanted to be a fairy,” she says before dashing off.

A few minutes later, Michael Mayo, still wet from a kayak trip, sits down inside on a wooden bench. He gazes into the remnants of orange sports drink and Mountain Dew like the stars in the night sky.

More than 11,000 single-use plastic bottles: primarily soda bottles, Gatorade bottles, and water bottles — some pulled from the nearby river — form the sculpture unveiled Friday night near the West Columbia amphitheater. Despite looking like a party, the message, green tinted at times, brings perspective as folks walk through the doorway, glancing to the contents in their hands.

Guilty.

The 27 foot long sculpture, “3 Seconds and Counting,” represents the number of single-use plastic bottles consumed and discarded every three seconds in United States.

Photos and words by Sean Rayford

Artist Karl L. Larsen, right, with Mitch James.

About the author: Sean Rayford is a South Carolina photographer known most for his work in photojournalism. He currently works with The New York Times, Getty Images, The Washington Post, NPR, AP and more.