ReCycled Boot into ART
In the past few decades we have been made aware of our declining environmental status. Poor air & soil quality, over-crowding, decline of natural resource, and waste of resources just to name a few or our global ailments. We are seeing the impact of our mistakes and misuses first hand. We are all in agreement that we must each make changes in our everyday life. Become more conscious of our bad & wasteful habits. No matter how big or small the action is, it’s still action, and we must act now.
And with this being said let’s start looking at alternatives and start thinking outside the box. In the art community many are taking to recycling, reuse, & reduction of waste headed to the landfill. Turning what at times can be very ugly garbage, are re-purposed into things of beauty. Saving items from trips to the landfill and giving it a new look and/or voice is a brave step for some artist. Reassuring us creativity and re-purposing is very much alive and well.
Example: I went to the most amazing show last weekend, it was an art exhibit, but not just any old art exhibit. This exhibit showcases many artist who used different mediums. The requirement for this recycled art show was to use 50% or more recycled materials. This recycled art show was inspiring and imaginative. The work ranged from collage, garments, paintings, jewelry, to sculpture. The creativity involved was breathe taking and wide ranged. A dress composed of shopping bags to a 500 pound, magnificent, bold, metal beast made of everything from; discarded auto parts to beverage containers. Another stunning piece was discarded laces and silks from a lingerie drawer of cast offs made into a wall hanging mural, 5 ft x 3 ft width, each fiber projected rich texture and color unique to itself. I was more than amazed to see what wonderfully, incredible, ingenious ideas these talented designers had created.
A statement made by one of the participating artist was profound to me. He said: “It is a joy for me to discover usable salvage thrown out forever by a previous owner. There is so much salvage to be found. As I build, I watch my creation become real. My vision, watching it take shape, is life blood for me. I feel so fulfilled giving things life again, a new purpose. There is nothing in this world that I would rather do. My life is art and without creating my art I would die!” And in his intense eyes, I could see he meant every word. His artwork comes from his soul and his work reflected that.
I talked to other patrons and the since of shock, amazement, and awe was in the air. Most repeated that there should be a higher awareness of what the art community is doing to encourage recycling and reuse as it relates to creativity and art. Many communities promote and hold shows to showcase artist and some even feature recycled art, but we need to do this more and to include everyone in our community. You can check your community schedule see if have any recycled shows and/exhibits in your area. If not see what you can do to get something started.
The use of recycled materials and waste can be a catalyst of change in the building resources, construction, and design field. If artist can see innovation in trash, whose to say we can’t have other application for reusable waste? A lot of company are looking into recycled material application, but I think all should at every level of production and consumption. What do we have to lose? Our planet!
Let love our planet, reuse, recycled, renew!
In the trying is the doing, in the doing is success.
Jen resides on the east coast, and enjoys, cooking, painting, collecting skeleton keys, and old watch parts. My most moving experience was seeing Paris, France for the first time, it was like “I was meant to be there!” I look forward to learning more about life with each sunrise and sharing it with someone by sunset. I love knowledge! You can find some of my artwork and wonderful creations at http://wonderartstudio.etsy.com/ and if you want to collaborate, contact me via that link.
“I want to wake up each and everyday with purpose in one pocket and dreams in the other!” Jen Brown – WonderArt Studio09.
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