Art from Ordinary
Objects
How can ordinary objects be inspiration for
works of art?
What messages can this type of art say about
our environment?
What do You See?
What do you
Notice?
Coke Totems, environmental artist, John Dahlsen
Contemporary environmental art sculpture. Totems made from found
plastic objects and stainless steel. Abstract recycled art created from
plastics collected from Australian beaches.
John Dahlsen, Ocean and Earth
Contemporary environmental art wall work, made from found plastic objects,
assembled behind perspex (Plexiglass).
Semi-abstract/Landscape, recycled art created from plastics collected from
Australian beaches.
What do you see? What do you Notice?
Artist and Sculptor Tara Donovan,
Untitled, 2004/2008 Styrofoam cups
and glue
Untitled, Pin Cube, 2007, Pins
Tara Donovan’s sculptures are
born of everyday materials such
as scotch tape, drinking straws,
paper plates, and Styrofoam
cups. Donovan takes these
materials and “grows” them
through accumulation. The
results are large-scale abstract
floor and wall works suggestive
of landscapes, clouds, cellular
structures and even mold or
fungus. She considers
patterning, configuration, and
the play of light when
determining the structure of her
works but the final form evolves
from the innate properties and
structures of the material itself.
In her words, “it is not like I’m
trying to recreate nature. It’s
more of a mimicking of the way
of nature, the way things
actually grow.”
Untitled, Plastic cups,
2006/ 2008
Untitled, (paper plates) 2003
Paper plates and glue
Toothpicks, 2001,
toothpicks
Transplanted, 2001, Ripped and
stacked tarpaper
Scotch Tape Sculpture
“Trash People” by German Artist
HA Schult
What do you See???
What do you Notice???
“Cologne People” next to the Cologne cathedral in Germany
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Artist HA Schult takes that saying to the limit:
he’s installed 1,000 figures made of debris in front of one of the world’s cultural treasures:
the Cologne Cathedral.
It took Schult 6 months and 30
assistants to create these strange
sculptures. Trash People are lifesize figures the artist began making
in 1996 from rubbish collected at
the municipal depot in Cologne, the
city where Schult lives and works.
The figures’ faces are molded from
tin cans, their chests constructed
from computers, their limbs shaped
from crushed plastic.
Trash People near the Matterhorn, Switzerland
His Trash People have traveled to some of the greatest sites in the world: on
China’s Great Wall, near the Egyptian pyramids, on Moscow’s Red Square, at
Switzerland’s Matterhorn mountain, at the Grand Place in Brussels and La Grande
Arche in Paris.
What do you see?
Tim Noble and Sue Webster are
an incredible artistic duo based
in England who have worked on
a variety of related projects
experimenting with trash and
projected shadows. From
looking at the rubbish they
collect from the streets of
London it is virtually impossible
to determine a rhyme or reason
to the apparent mess. However,
once a projector is set up at just
the right angle the art pops to
life and animated shades are
created with crisp and clear
outlines delineating the
controlled forms hidden with
chaos.
Recycled Art/Projections by Tim Noble and
Sue Webster
This trash sculpture was
created from recycled
carrier bags as part of
the Eden Project near
Cornwall, UK. Of course,
trash ‘art’ isn’t limited to
strange sculptures and
architectural
deconstructions. There
is also a great deal of
creative recycled urban
furniture to keep an eye
on not to mention some
amazing works of
recycled architecture
created from bottles,
cans, tires and basically
any scrap that one can
find in bulk.
What is the purpose/message of
this type of art?
HA Shult carefully formed his
Trash People Sculptures to
remind people of the waste
they constantly produce.
“We live in the trash
time: we produce
trash and we become
trash. Therefore, my
‘Trash People’ are
images of ourselves.”
John Dahlsen
I see that by making this art, it has been a way of sharing my
messages for the need to care for our environment. I feel that
even if just a fraction of the viewing audience were to experience a
shift in their awareness and consciousness about the environment
and art, through being exposed to this artwork then it would be
worth it. This stems from the fact that I believe presently humanity
is at a critical point in time, with our planet currently existing in a
fragile ecological state, with global warming hastening unheard of
changes, all amplifying the fact that we need all the help we can
get.
I see the real need for the massive social transformations that are
essential, to adequately deal with such crises as the depletion of
fossil fuels and climate change. I hope this work can be a timely
reminder to us all of the limited supply of these petroleum based
materials, which is a direct result of our current collective global
mass consumerism.
This is my way of making a difference, and at the same time I’m
sharing a positive message about beauty that can be gained from
the visual experience of appreciating art, as well as giving
examples of how we can recycle and reuse in creative ways.
These artworks exemplify my commitment as an artist to express
contemporary social and environmental concerns.
By presenting this art, to the public it will hopefully have people
thinking about the deeper meaning of the work, in particular the
environmental issues we currently face.
I hope these works will act as a constant reminder to people about
awareness.
I would like them to find enjoyment the work on many levels and
find themselves becoming identified in various ways with each of
the artworks they see. I also look forward to the possible
discussion that these works may generate as a result.
The Eden Project uses exhibits,
events, workshops and
educational programs to remind
people of our dependence on,
and connection to, the natural
world. Over a million people
every year are welcomed to join
in our events and learn from
our exhibits and we try to
ensure all our visitors leave
knowing something more about
their connections to the world.
Enduring Understandings
• We are dependent on and connected to
the natural world.
• Art can be used to send important
messages and create awareness of
certain concerns.
• We can recycle and reuse in creative
ways.
• Ordinary objects can be inspiration for
artwork.
We are now going to create our own
sculpture from ordinary PAPER CUPS!!! 
Our focus will be repeated pattern and
design!