Art & Ecology:
Photoessays: Art and the Earth
Earthly Matters
Folk Art From the Global Scrap Heaps
by Suzanne Seriff, Ph.D.
Introduction
"If I seem to be over-interested in junk, it is because I am, and I have a lot of it, too--half a garage full of bits and pieces. I use these things for repairing other things....But it can be seen that I do have a genuine and almost miserly interest in worthless objects. My excuse is that in this era of planned obsolescence, when a thing breaks I can usually find something in my collection to repair it - a toilet, or a motor, or a lawn mower. sBut I guess the truth is that I simply like junk.
- John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley, 1962
"Trash, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder."
- Michael Thompson, Rubbish Theory
While many Americans have recently become "hip" to the need for recycling on an industrial scale, some of us have always considered ourselves recyclers--and not just of the curbside variety. Whether it's using old mayonnaise jars to store nails or making quilts from scraps of worn-out clothing, "making do" is a proud part of the American story. It is also part of a global story of creative individuals the world over who share one thing in common: they take throwaways and transform them into objects of renewed meaning, utility, whimsy, and sometimes arresting beauty. They may or may not think of what they do as recycling, but each of them sees potential where others see only useless junk.
Examples of such recycling genius on an individual or community level can be found all over the world, from bread wrapper rugs in America to tin can travel trunks in Africa. At a time when solid-waste disposal has become a global focus of concern, it is important to acknowledge--and try to understand--this largely unrecognized type of waste recycling that has flourished in many communities--often in the name of survival--but faded from view in our contemporary mass culture of consumption and disposability.
A number of publications, exhibitions, and video documentaries are recently bringing this trend to the attention of an international audience, including an award-winning traveling exhibition and publication developed by the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, titled Recycled, Re-Seen: Folk Art From the Global Scrap Heap. Including over 700 objects from around the world, this exhibition pays tribute to the transformative genius of individuals the world over who take the heaps of disposable packaging and obsolete junk that we all generate and discard, and re-use them as raw materials for their craft. Their stories of "making something from nothing" spotlight the role of recycling in art, in music, at play, in ceremony, in dress, and in everyday life. Together, they provide a glimpse of the magic, the ingenuity, and the artistry which can result when one person's or culture's trash is transformed into another's treasure.
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