Art is something that can be found everywhere and made by anyone. Sometimes it has profound meanings and other times it is simply there for the interpreters’ enjoyment. In this round of featuring art, all three pieces are a part of a Recycle, Reuse, and Recreate project from Mr. Vogel’s sculpture class, and each has something important to say.
Currently, our Earth’s atmosphere temperature is increasing at a deadly rate because of the unsustainable choices people have made. One of those choices is creating materials that get thrown away after one use. Some of these materials end up in oceans and kill sea life as well as harm our earth. These materials are all made out of single-use pieces that would ordinarily end up in landfills. But thanks to the creativity and imagination of several students, they are getting a second life.
“We looked at a variety of contemporary artists using recyclable materials such as plastics, cardboard, papers, and metals,” said sculpture teacher Mr. Vogel. “The main goals were to incorporate elements of art such as lines, shapes, forms, and textures throughout the work in order to achieve a sense of variety, rhythm, and unity. This is a fun project and I believe the students accomplished some really fantastic works of art!”
When scrolling through artwork, this piece demands a second look from the viewer. The simplicity of the color scheme and the complication of all the textures give your eyes so many places to explore.
“I used recycled materials such as bottle caps, cardboard, bottle lids and an egg carton to make this piece,” said sophomore Lia.
While some of the shapes do look familiar, you never would have guessed that the items could be found in a trash can. The metallic paint truly takes it up a rung in the ladder of class. What is more is that Lia can look at her garbage and envision the pieces coming together to form one art piece, rather than individual pieces with one-way tickets to the landfill.
“I knew I wanted to have that color theme but I didn’t really
have much of a plan of what I wanted it to look like,” said Lia.
This is another admirable skill of an artist is to be able create something wonderful out of half an idea, without being too scared to start for fear that the undecided half will ruin the predetermined half.
Lia McKeown’s sculpture is an inspiring piece that truly gives discarded items another purpose.
“Something Out of Nothing” by Eden Lazarus is a perfect and beautiful resemblance of recycling, rescuing, and repurposing that demonstrates these things through eye opening art, rather than guilt-tripping slogans.
“My inspiration was trying to make/arrange items to look similar to the sun or flowers,” said sophomore Eden.
Eden wanted her piece to reflect the earth and honor the earth by using something that would otherwise hurt it. By creating flower shapes out of the paper and plastic, but still keeping them in one color scheme, demonstrates how the earth is all connected, and all the flowers and life make up earth. Her lively artwork shows us how we all are connected through life and art.
“I think the main message is that anything can be made into art,” said Eden. “And no art piece is perfect, the “mistakes” make it unique. I tried to keep these messages in mind when creating this art piece. This also helped me remain positive when I made a ‘mistake’ during the process.”
Eden’s intended message is a message that everyone should not just hear, but comprehend. Learning that what you create does not need to be perfect is a lesson easy for some to learn but hard for others. No matter what your stance is regarding perfection, creating art is supposed to be a time where you can let that go and express creativity.
In Eden Lazarus’s piece, she was able to let go and let the art flow through her, without the worries about making it perfect. She created a beautiful piece that may not have been made with the intention of being perfect, but it somehow looks beyond perfect.
“Allison’s work is a really lovely example of the style and concept developed by famous 20th Century sculptor Louise Nevelson,” said Sculpture Teacher Mr. Vogel. “Nevelson was a master at incorporating found objects into her sculptures. Whether it be a broken table or chair leg, or some old tools from the garage, Nevelson would find a place for these objects in her sculptures. When Nevelson was finished constructing her “assemblages” she would paint them in a monochromatic color scheme, one single color. Allison created some great textures for her background. She also used a variety of shapes to keep the viewer’s eye moving around the composition, and she did a fine job painting the overall piece monochromatic. I also really like the use of text in Allison’s piece!”
These pieces all show us that we can create beautiful things out of materials that have been deemed unwanted. While creating art out of trash is an extremely noble act that I encourage many to try (trust me, it is very fun), it is not enough to save our planet. So going forward from this article, please educate yourself on global warming as well as acting on this crisis by using less harmful products and being sustainable. That is not at all to say that art should not be created. Through pieces like these we saw students passionately create art that teaches the viewer beauty as well as the importance of saving our planet.
