Trash art at the Suzanne Geiss Company

As soon as I learned of The Suzanne Geiss Company's inaugural exhibit on artist Rammellzee, I had to see it. Rammellzee created 3-dimensional sculptures of letter racers, which are poised to attack in futuristic galactic battles in order to liberate themselves from European meaning and iconic value.

As an admirer of all thing upcycled, I was fascinated by Rammellzee's sculpting materials. I saw skateboards, chunks of tire rims, cut up USPS boxes, spray can triggers, syringes, buckles, old air fresheners and much much more. The overall look of these letter racers hanging in an aerial formation made me think of the city's colorful diversity, and all the materials at our disposal. Rammellzee gave these materials a fantastic, fictional new beginning!

Below are images from my gallery visit. You can view this exhibit in NYC through April 21, 2012.

A Paint Can Planter is perfect for Spring!

Spring is here, and we've got a great upcycling project to help you celebrate! It's the Paint Can Planter (project #77 in the ReMake It! book) and it's a fresh, colorful way to display newly bloomed flowers!

Materials:

empty paint can

paint brush

paint

rocks

potted plant that's smaller than 5 1/2 inches in diameter

Instructions:

1) If there's paint left inside the can, use that paint to paint the outside of the can. Let any additional paint in the can harden and dry. Remove any labels from the outside of the can and paint it. Save the lid for project #77 Paint Can Lid Clock (which can be found in the ReMake It book)

2) Fill the paint can halfway with rocks.

3) Place your potted plant inside the can. Fill up the rest of the can with rocks around the sides of the potted plant. You'll want the top of the plant pot to line up with the top of the paint can. Now, rock out with your new, low-cost planter!

A look back to MAD's Second Lives symposium

The Museum of Arts and Design hosted Second Lives Symposium in February 2009. The symposium covered a wide range of topics including the intersection of art, craft and DIY. Another topic was the shift from artists using one primary medium, to embracing many materials, from plastic, glass and fabric, as well as traditional canvas.

The section of the Symposium which resonated most with RePlayGround was the Second Lives discussion. The talk focused on finding artistic and functional uses for trashed items, which is dear to our hearts! Independent curator Steven Skov calls attention to artists who work in the medium of reused materials, and you can view his MAD presentation here.

Coffee Cup Art

Artist Gwyneth Leech upcycled coffee cups into art for her latest NYC exhibit. Her artwork was displayed in the glass base of the Flatiron building, and she could be seen inside as she worked on her coffee cup art during the course of the show. Leech transforms disposable coffee cup exteriors into canvas, and she has covered 800 cups in the 5 months the exhibit has spanned. Leech teaches us we can make trash into art, one cup at a time!



image by Marianne Barcellona via http://www.gwynethsfullbrew.com/