DARTMOUTH — There's a certain irony to the "performative sculpture" being worked on at UMass Dartmouth's main campus, to be featured during this month's AHA! Night in downtown New Bedford. As much pride and effort as the project's many artists and volunteers are putting into making the 60-foot long "monster" look its best, everyone involved would agree it's a piece of art that shouldn't exist.

Incorporating 32,885 plastic alcohol "nip" bottles found littered throughout local beaches, parks and other sites, the piece, titled "Sculpture Monster: Creature from the Plasticine Era," will make its debut as part of the "Earth Eve" parade during the "Sustainable South Coast" themed AHA! Night scheduled for April 11.

"It's going to be about 60-feet long and take about 30 students to carry it," said Rebecca McGee Tuck, the artist brought on board by UMass Dartmouth to lead this project, given her specialty in making art out of waste to deliver environmental messages. Tuck said the piece — which she describes as depicting a long "sea serpent-like creature" made up of individual sections — will stand as a campus-wide UMass Dartmouth collaboration, with involvement from multiple departments.

Read more at heraldnews.com.