Yes We Can – Neide Ambrosio - Brazil

Neide Ambrosio, known as 'Pretinha', is a true Cinderella story. in 1997 she had retired from the University of Sao Paulo and moved with her husband to Rio De Janeiro in order to pursue his musical career. She was lonely and unemployed. While walking the streets of Rio De Janeiro, looking for a present for a sick friend, she came across a woman selling belts made of recycled materials. They had become friends and this woman taught her how to make crochets.

She's developed her own style of crochet, made of soda pop ring pulls and began selling various designs on the beach in Rio De Janeiro. Her new business was a huge success with tourists and locals alike and soon enough she turned it into a social cooperative where she employs underpriviledged women and helps them support their families. They are very profitable and make enough money to be able to support a children shelter with their income as well. 
 

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Endangered wild animals in LEGO - Sean Kenney

Philadelpia zoo uses the services of LEGO sculptor, Sean Kenney, to promomte awareness of endangered species, affected by pollution and climate change.

Zoo visitors watch an epocalyptic view of a dreadfully possible future zoo, where models of extinct animals are displayed instead of their living counterparts due to pollution and climate change effect on their natural environment.


The use of animal sculptures in a semi-natural environment is an interesting concept. The zoo itself is a man-made fabrication of nature, which is the only connection to nature for many city dwelling people.


Sean and his team of assistants had worked on this exhibition, named "HABITAT" & commisioned by the Philadelphia zoo, for months. It is on display April 10th - October 31st, 2010.

ReCycle By Ossy has recently published a new art work: In Coke We Trust - A 4' tall portrait of US President Barack Obama made of 1600 recycled bottle caps. Pay us a visit and tell us what you think.

Garbage is a moment in space/time

Imagine a moment in the future when garbage is no longer buried, but fully recycled into new, useful products. Is that possible? Would future humanity look back into our time and wonder "how could we live that way?".

NYC artist Justin Gignac puts street garbage in the spotlight. He collects stuff from garbage cans across New York, cleans, arranges them, wraps them nicely in Garbage Capsules and sells them on his website.

100% authentic
HAND-PICKED from the fertile streets of NY, NY
http://www.nycgarbage.com/.

This "Limited Edition Yankee Stadium Garbage Cube" is my favorite garbage cube. It holds garbage collected by Justin in the final Opening Day at old Yankee Stadium.

Time will tell whether consumption culture changes or not. The message is out there though - RECYCLE NOW!

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Real Life is Rubbish

Some say real life is actually quite different than what we see with our eyes. That our visual perception hides the truth from us and keeps us in a comfortable darkness.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster take that saying a step further with their trash art. They project light into spaces and manipulate it using trash to create life size shade figures.

The above trash art installation, called Dirty White Trash, is made of their own trash, collected in a period of 6 months and assembled to present their own figures with a cigarette and a glass of wine. This symbolizes their self criticism of their own lifestyle and the effect it has on the environment.

Being so strongly provocative, this kind of work forces spectators into re-examination of their very own perception and lifestyles. It shouts for change of both in a very clear voice. I only hope they turn off the projector during museum off hours.

Your Garbage = Unlimited Art Material

Plastic leftovers from broken toys and electronic devices, cigarette filters, bottlecaps, electrical wires and many other types of "garbage" are Tom Deininger's unlimited arsenal of raw materials, ready to become part of his next recycled art project.

I was initially drawn to his work through this lovely "smelly shell", made of used cigarette filters. They are upcycled by the recycle artist from useless smelly pieces of junk into a lovely texture with a new meaning and context.

Above: Tom Deininger's self portrait (click here to see it in stopmotion).

Indeed, this represents a truly inspiring attitude from a well-deserving recognized artist who proves beyond doubt there is a bright side to be found even in dark places.

Welcome To The EarthShip

Michael Reynolds is an American Architect (BioTect) who has developed a model for the self-sustained home - The EarthShip.

An EarthShip is a house, built of 45% recycled materials, designed with sustainability in mind. It manufactures its' own electricity from sun and wind, collects rain and snow water and uses it for all purposes, including gardening. Such a house provides protection from heat and cold and keeps your CO2 footprint low.

Some key points from EarthShip's Facebook page. Earthships:

• Heat and cool themselves naturally via solar/thermal dynamics
• Collect their own power from the sun and wind
• Harvest their own water from rain and snow melt
• Contain and treat their own sewage on site
• Produce a significant amount of food
• Are constructed using the byproducts of modern society like cans,
bottles and tires.

It's possible to purchase full house prints for a mere 30$, get all the info you need from books and seminars provided by Reynold's EarthShip HQ about building your own or even get the team to build one for you in 30 days.

It's not just a house - it's an eco-conscience movement in the making.

TRASH PEOPLE - HA Schult - 1996

As the first official post of this blog, I've decided to write about HA Schult's 1996 TRASH PEOPLE artwork. For me, it represents the message that's been there more than a decade ago, before climate change, ecology and recycling were part of the media's daily agenda.

Background: In 1996, HA Schult, a German artist/poet/radical, posted 1000 man-sized figures, made entirely from trash, in the amphitheater of Xanten. The message was clear - we produce too much trash. let's do something about it.

Ever since, Schult's TRASH PEOPLE have traveled the globe, in an effort to bring awareness among people of all nations to the massive amounts of trash created by mass consumption and lack of recycling.

The picture above, taken at the Geeza pyramids in Egypt, represents TRASH PEOPLE's secondary message to human kind, borrowed from Marcel Proust -

We stand on top of a pyramid from the past.

Let's not forget then - we are guests in this world, passing through it for a brief moment. Let's do our best to bring awareness to our environment and try to leave a better pyramid for our descendants to stand upon.