A sold-out crowd of over 500 gathered at the Lincart Gallery in San Francisco for the opening of the SMART Art - Trash
Into Treasure Exhibition.
A project of David de Rothschild's daring Adventure Ecology, the competition
invited artists to show how discarded items can be transformed into works of art. Judging by the dazzling winners, the
competition succeeded. One person’s trash is another’s person
masterpiece.
These were not your average rusty backyard junk sculptures.
The winning art works blended style with sustainability, mind-bending
creativity with regenerative design, and ultimately, trash with beauty.
Pictured here, the purple Crown Royal Gown by Colleen
Miezejeski is designed from all-reclaimed fabric. Looking like eco-royalty, here she is gazing
peacefully through the winning "Certain is Nothing Now" installation
made from layers of junk mail collected by the artist Julia
Goodman.
Speaking of junk mail, ForestEthics was on hand to help
people get off junk mail lists. See their Do Not Mail web page for
insider tips and the chance to sign the petition to create a national Do Not Mail registry,
which would save an awesome 100 million trees per year.
Marie Antoinette
This crowd favorite Tim Dey's Ghost of Versailles is made from
used bubble wrap, proving that you can have your
eco-fashion-cake and eat it too.
Circuit Runway Necklace
This necklace by Christine Dhein is so handsome you would
never guess it is made from reincarnated circuit boards.
Grass
Eco-artist Harriete
Estel Berma took first place with her spectacular lawn sculpture made from
32,400 individual blades of colorful recycled steel containers. The video of
her making the piece is a must-watch and a hilarious commentary on American
lawns.
Many party-goers took turns riding Ocean Beach surfer Kathleen Egan's Plastic
Wave, made entirely from plastic bottles collected from her friends. Watch this great video here of Kathleen and her surfing community making the wave. The best
picture of the night goes to New Leaf Paper founder Jeff Mendelsohn seen here
surfing inside the sea of plastic.
Event chair Heidi Quante wore a striking short black dress designed
by Drew Kleiner made out of reclaimed bicycle tires. Here she is below with Lincart gallery
co-owner Holly Fouladi, who is wearing an eye-catching necklace by Judith Selby
Lang. Eco-adventurer David de Rothschild announced the winners and said
that he was impressed by the outpouring of time and creativity these artists
brought to the cause – naming specifically Grass and Scott Oliver’s found Chair
turned Hetch Hetchy Valley.
I was thrilled to serve on the Host Committee for the
opening because I believe that re-imagining trash is one of the most important
things we can do. What if there were no trash?
What if we viewed everything as having some purpose? In nature, everything has its place and its
value. Don't miss artist Tim Gaudreau who photographed everything he threw out for 365 days. The resulting art exhibit must be seen to be believed. As the ultimate example of turning trash into treasure, Back To Earth’s Ari Derfel saved his trash for a year, received a flood
of media attention, and is now the subject of a highly-anticipated work of art by Kuros Zahedi called Finding Away.
Visit the Lincart
Gallery online and offline and see the works of art until June 25,
2009. You will never look at trash the
same way again.
Photos by Drew Altizer
