If you’ve been reading our blog recently you’ve probably noticed that we’ve taken a pretty big interest in
upcycling and
repurposing, and have even had a go at an
upcycling project ourselves.
Upcycling is an incredible way to lease new life from objects that would otherwise wind up in landfill, while bypassing the processes involved
in recycling, and best of all, it is being used to create some truly brilliant things. We’ve been on the hunt to find examples of some of the best uses of upcycling from around the world, are here are just some of the amazing examples we found.
Tin Robots and Animals
These adorable figurines are crafted by French artist Daphne Burge, using almost entirely old tin cans, as well as pieces of
bakelite, porcelain fuses, and random wooden objects. Wherever possible, Daphne uses reclaimed metal screws to piece the figures together.
We spoke to Daphne and she gave us an insight into the story behind her sculptures:
"My sculptures invite the public to see forgotten, familiar objects in a new light, which after assembly resume life and tell a new story."
Daphne was also kind enough to give us an exclusive sneak preview of her latest figurine, a beautiful little mouse:
See Daphne’s gallery of
tin robots here, and
tin animals here. You can also find Daphne on Facebook
here.
Bicycle Chain Chandelier
This fantastic chandelier is one of many created by Netherlands-based Laurence van Seventer, who launched her brand Lolo Palazzo 2-and-a-half years ago. Laurence turns used materials such as bicycle chains, perforated metal sheets, car parts and motor-bike parts into not just chandeliers, but lamps and other objects,
like these brilliant creations.
You can view all of Laurence's work
here, or find her on
Facebook, and
Pinterest.
Homeless Homes Project
This ingenius project by American designer and builder Gregory Kloehn, helped by a team of volunteers, uses discarded materials sourced from illegal street dumping, commercial waste, and unwanted household items to make shelters for the homeless.
As well as being entirely unique, each home is big enough to sleep in comfortably, and is fully mobile in order to ‘accommodate the nomadic lifestyle’ of the homeless, and ‘avoid the complexities of permanent structures’.
You can read more about the project
here, on
Facebook, and on
Twitter.
Musical Instruments from Weapons
Pedro Reyes, a Mexican artist specialising in sculpture, architecture, video, performance, and participation, built a total of 50 instruments from more than 6,000 weapons confiscated by the army and police in
Ciudad Juarez, as part of his “
Imagine” project.
The weapons were set to be destroyed and buried, but were instead transformed into contemporary interpretations of traditional instruments including flutes, guitars, and xylophones.
Pedro followed his 2012 project “Imagine” in 2013 with “
Disarm”, a series of 8 mechanical instruments that can be programmed and operated using computers.
You can see all of Pedro’s work
on his site.
Upcycled Containers
The 2014 Winter Olympics, hosted in Sochi, Russia, saw sponsor Samsung utilise old shipping containers to create the
Galaxy Studio, which saw the containers used as walls, stages, and information booths.
Following the Olympics, the containers were recycled further and donated to an educational facility.
Cardboard Animal Sculptures
Montreal-based artist Laurence Vallieres has crafted a series of incredible animal sculptures using old cardboard boxes. The animals are designed to reflect political and social behaviour in humankind, in a light, humorous, and accessible manner – the animals can be seen sitting around (and on top of) boardroom tables, enjoying a meal (or feast) from McDonalds, and launching into the destruction of an overturned car.
You can see all of Laurence’s cardboard pieces
here, and you can find her on
Twitter and
Pinterest, or if you'd like to see her work up close, you can find it at the following galleries:
The Colab Gallery, Germany - 14th June to 25th October 2014
Spacejunk, Lyon - 12th June to 26th July 2014
Sustainable Treehouse
This magnificent structure was created by Benjamin Jones, an artist, designer, and DJ from Brooklyn. Many of the materials used to make the treehouse were abandoned items, found mostly on the streets of Jones’ Brooklyn neighbourhood, Crown Heights, while all of the doors were sourced from
Build It Green! NYC, a not-for-profit reseller of reclaimed materials. Benjamin also used FSC rate lumber for the structural base of the treehouse, which while new, is still a sustainable material.
You can find out more about Benjamin and his brilliant ideas
on his website.
Plastic Bottle Installation
This incredibly colourful installation, titled the Candela 7/450 was created by Scottish artist David Batchelor, using 450 upcycled plastic bottles, each lit using a low energy light bulb.
The work was originally commissioned by Bloomberg LP as part of the 2006 Edinburgh Arts Festival, and can now be viewed in the Temperate Palm House at
Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden.
You can take a look at the rest of David’s brilliant work
here.
Floppy Disk Paintings
Another fantastic example of upcycling used in art, these captivating paintings began life as a pile of obsolete floppy disks. London born artist Nick Gentry turns the disks into canvases which he uses to form the backdrop for these evocative and often haunting images.
Nick calls this and his other projects ‘open art’ because he encourages the public to help fund his work by donating unwanted items including film negatives, X-Rays, maps, and of course floppy disks. You can find out more about donating items on
Nick’s website.
You can also find Nick on
Facebook,
Tumblr,
Twitter, and
Pinterest.
