Rubbish Art - Supplemental

A few more artists who make art from recycled materials:

Sue Beatrice (website here) makes exquisite artwork from old watch and clock parts. She's a mean sculptor too.

Meanwhile, the mysterious 'Mister Finch' makes plants and animals using vintage fabrics. His website is here.

And then there's Kyle Bean who makes chickens from eggshells, mobile phone Russian dolls from cardboard, and portraits from pencil shavings. The man is a genius.

Motorcycle Gorgeousness - the sculpture of Edouard Martinet

Many artists create art exploring the interplay of the natural and mechanical worlds, and some do so using found objects — but we’ve not come across any who combine the two to create such striking and innovative animal sculptures.

Edouard Martinet has created a menagerie of sculptures including birds, fish, insects and even a frog from found car and bike parts that are remarkably accurate representations. A dragonfly’s wings are made from sections of a wire fence while a red ant has marbles for eyes and an abdomen made from a motorcycle headlamp.

 

 

Martinet does not shy away from the scrapyard origins of his creations, even going so far as to place brand logos on to his sculptures. This nod to the manufactured origins of his work only further prove the skill in piecing together such individualised pieces.

 

A personal favourite is an oversized wasp climbing into a giant glass. It takes a long hard stare to recognise the antennae are arms from a pair of spectacles, the eyes are old watch cases and the legs are made from bicycle chains.

The insects are his strongest works here largely because of the intricate nature of their construction and their scale. Martinet’s sculptures are remarkable works of art and need to be seen up close to recognise just how impressive they are.

Words by Tabish Khan at the Londonist

Edouard Martinet website here

The Recycled Wonderland of Blair Somerville

I'm a great fan of automata. And I'm a great fan of art made from found and recycled objects. So what a delight to find someone who does both.

In a remote corner of New Zealand’s South Island, tucked away among the last remaining tracts of native forest, lies a little-known place of wonder. It is the life’s work and extraordinary creation of inventor, artist and self-confessed tinkerer, Blair Somerville.

 

For over ten years Blair has single-handedly owned, operated and ceaselessly expanded the Lost Gypsy Gallery, his wonderland of home-grown wizardry and a playground for kids and adults alike. He even opens it to the public during the Summer months.

Using only recycled materials, Blair takes DIY to artistic extremes. His creations are ingenious, interactive, and often hilariously impractical. They take many shapes and forms and share an uncanny ability to amaze, entertain and inspire.

‘Lost & Found’ invites you to take a peek into Blair's bizarre and beautiful world.

Fun isn't it? He made an organ too ...



Previous blogposts about recycled art can be read here, here, here, here, here, here and here. And there are many more.

Recycled Into Art - Part 4

Another day and some more art made by recycling waste materials or using inexpensive everyday materials in a new way.

I've been a big fan of Mark Jenkins' street art for some time; his creepily realistic human figures are wonderful. Do have a look at his website and gallery here. But, recently, he's made some pieces by a process of 'guerilla moulding' using nothing more than sticky tape. The results include these curious animals (see below). Want to see how it's done, step by step? Click here.







I saw some art by Dean Patman at the Medici Gallery in London today. He's another artist that cleverly uses household objects to make animal sculptures:

And last, but not least, for today we have Jason Mecier who creates poignant collages and portraits from garbage.







More tomorrow!

Recycled Into Art - Part 3

Giant cows made from dead cars!

Finnish artist Miina Akkijyrkka has been creating these incredible sculptures out of recycled car parts for more than 30 years. Aren't they amazing? (Thanks to my brother Simon for alerting me to them.) Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Next we have Tom Hardwidge's Steampunk 'Arthrobots' made from nuts and bolts and mechanical components:

And Taiwanese food carving artist Huang Mingbo creates extraordinary sculptures like these lobster shell motorcycles:

More tomorrow!

Recycled Into Art - Part 2

Some more artist 'Wombles' - people who create things from found materials and the rubbish that most of us discard. We kick off with the sculptures of Heather Jansch, whose work I saw recently at the Eden Project:

Jean Shin does amazing things with vinyl records, umbrellas and other objects:

Robert Bradford uses thrown away children's toys, clothes pegs, buttons ... anything plastic:

And Subodh Gupta uses scrapped kitchen utensils:

More tomorrow!

Recycled Into Art - Part 1

I've always been a lover of sculpture. And I'm very much a sustainable living/save the planet kind of a guy. By combining these two passions you'll find my favourite kind of art; where things that might once have been landfill are given new life. In the past I've featured artists like Stephane Halleux, Peter Rush, David Kemp, Jessica Harrison, Ivan Lovatt, Jennifer Maestre, Junior Fritz Jacquet, James Corbett, Stuart Haygarth, Mike Rivamonte, Wim Delvoye, Yong Ho Ji, Jim and Tori Mullen, Click Mort, Alex Gross and my good friends Sophie Thompson and Ptolemy Elrington (also look here and here). I've also featured some of my own humble recycled work, such as my Art Critics painting and my Junk Owls and Cobblepot sculptures.

I've found a few more recycling artists recently and so here's a quick round up. First off the blocks is Scottish artist David Mach who makes the most amazing installations and sculptures from materials like coat hangers and match heads (as always, click on the pictures to see a larger version).

The curiously spelled Kate MccGwire uses feathers:

While Anastassia Elias uses carboard toilet roll tubes to wonderful effect:



More tomorrow!