Recycled Art

Why use recycled materials when we could use brand new ones???

• When you use 100% post-consumer recycled paper vs. brand new paper:– 4 tons LESS wood (26 trees)– 11 million BTU’s LESS energy

• (British Thermal Unit= Heat Energy)

– 2,068 pounds LESS hazardous air pollutants– 11,218 LESS gallons water used– 751 LESS pounds of solid waste produced– http://paper-newt.org/paper-neutrality/recycled-vs-n

on-recycled-paper/

Why use recycled materials when we could use brand new ones???

• Sometimes, even recyclables end up where they shouldn’t, like in oceans or landfills.

Trash Island

• Alison Teal: Originally visited the Maldives for a Discovery Channel show, and decided to return to the area with the goal of cleaning while raising awareness about plastic pollution.

• With permission from the country's government, Teal and her crew documented the Maldives' Trash Island, also known as Thilafushi.

• Only a few miles away from the Maldivian capital of Malé, Thilafushi is an artificial island and acts as one of the country's main landfills. About 300 to 400 tons of trash are dumped on the island every day.

Maldives

Thilafushi: Trash Island

Thilafushi: Trash Island

Rise Above Plastics Month: Sponsored by Surfrider Foundation

• Every October, Surfrider sponsors an Art contest to “Rise Above Plastics”.

• People are encouraged to create art with plastics pulled out of the ocean and off of beaches

Rise Above Plastics

Rise Above Plastics

Rise Above Plastics

Rise Above Plastics

Rise Above Plastics

Rise Above Plastics

Rise Above Plastics

Plastics are everywhere, even in Colorado!Gold Crown Mural: Gatorade and Water Bottle Caps

Construction Paper

• Construction paper can’t be recycled• Think about all of those scrap pieces of

construction paper that end up in the trash!• What if we used those scrap pieces to make

something beautiful?• Russian Artist Yulia Brodskaya’s beautiful

paper cut work: clients pay her to transform spaces with her art

Russian Artist Yulia Brodskaya

Russian Artist Yulia Brodskaya

Russian Artist Yulia Brodskaya

Russian Artist Yulia Brodskaya

Russian Artist Yulia Brodskaya

Russian Artist Yulia Brodskaya

Canadian artist Laurence Vallières: Giant cardboard assemblages

Rice Paddy Art

• Inakadate village in Japan• For centuries, farming has been the main source

of income for people in this village• Paddy fields take up over 50% of this village’s land• Strains of rice in this village are over 2,000 years

old• Started as a tourist attraction (other villages soon

followed suit but this was the original village to develop this unique art form.

Rice Paddy Art

• No artificial colorings are used; the colors come from the different varieties of rice– Tsugaru Roman rice = green– Yukiasobi rice = white – Beniasobi rice = red. – Other ancient strains of rice are used for purple

and yellow.

Rice Paddy Art

• These are first designed on a computer and then manually planted and harvested to maintain the design

• To be seen accurately, these need to be seen from a distance and from above, so observation decks have been build as part of the tour.

Rice Paddy Art

Rice Paddy Art

Rice Paddy Art

Rice Paddy Art

Reverse Graffiti: Moose

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lX-2sP0JFw

California Photographer Gregg Segal

• Puts a face on the mountains of garbage we generate by taking photos of families on top of a week’s worth of their own trash.

• 7 Days of Garbage

7 Days of Garbage

7 Days of Garbage

7 Days of Garbage

7 Days of Garbage

7 Days of Garbage

7 Days of Garbage

Artist Statement: 7 Days of Garbage, Gregg Segal

• “Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wondered about garbage-where does it go and what happens when we run out of places to put it? The average American generates 4 pounds of garbage a day. As a nation, we generate 4 million tons of waste, weekly. I’m concerned not only by how much we throw away, but by how blithe we are to the problem.

Artist Statement Continued

• “In January, I set out to create pictures that make the trash problem impossible to ignore. I asked family, friends, neighbors and other acquaintances to save their trash and recyclables for a week and then to lie down and be photographed in it. I included my family because I want my 7-year-old son to understand that we’re contributing to the problem, too. I asked people to include their recycles for several reasons: much of what is designated recyclable is not recycled, recycling plastic has environmental costs, and packaging is excessive.

Artist Statement Continued

• “I’ve created three environments for the pictures, all in my yard in Altadena, CA: water, forest and beach. I photograph participants directly from above, camera centered over the subject, tethered to my computer below. I will continue the series, creating other environments…snow tundra, rocky outcropping, field of wildflowers, etc. My aim is to illustrate how pervasive garbage is.

Artist Statement Continued

• “By asking us to look at ourselves, I’ve found that some are considering the issue more deeply. Many have said the process of saving their garbage and then laying in it reconciled them to a need for change. Others have commented how powerless they feel. What can any one of us do? It isn’t our fault that the products we buy come with excessive packaging and have brief life spans. Our economic model and its necessity for growth fuels the waste epidemic-and makes conservation seem untenable.

Artist Statement Continued

• “Still, some of us are making small steps to mitigate the crisis. Reflecting on the pictures I’ve made so far, I see 7 Days of Garbage as instant archeology, a record not only of our waste but of our values- values that may be evolving a little.”

Voltaire’s Candide

• “Let us cultivate our garden”• Smalls steps make a difference• Do what you can with what is within your reach • Even if you don’t see an immediate difference

in your environment or the larger community around you, it doesn’t mean your actions aren’t having an impact!

• Cognitive dissonance

Think of ways to create things you will actually use or display in your home…

Think of ways to create things you will actually use or display in your home…