410 Forum — Arts
Found Item, Found Art
By Dan Mauro
pablo picasso once stumbled across a bicycle seat and a pair of rusted handlebars. Picasso combined these items to look like a bull’s head, the seat forming the head while the old handlebars sat behind and became the horns. Eventually this sculpture, which was made from trash then cast in bronze, helped people to visualize something other than parts of a bicycle. Recycling can have that effect as well. A couple of plastic bottles can be melted down and reformed into a new bottle, most paper coffee cups are made from recycled paper and sculptures like Picasso’s can be made from anything the artist desires. Sculptures much like a group of aspiring UNC artists have on display.
In an effort to promote green awareness, UNC’s College of Performing and Visual Arts hosted two exhibits featuring sculptures that use found items as materials. The main exhibit, “Pick of the Litter,” was held in the Mariani Gallery in Guggenheim Hall and features the work of the late professor emeritus at UNC, Gene Hoffman. The second exhibit, “Detritus Transformed,” is being held in the Oakroom Gallery in Crabbe Hall and features the work of current UNC students. The exhibits ran from Jan. 19 to Feb. 27.
“The pieces look like trash by themselves, but put together it has a meaning,” said senior Derek Capo of Hoffman’s works. “It’s like recycled bits of experience.”
Artists are known for their abilities to see meaning, and recycled or found art reflects that. Starting with a message, the artist will plan out the design or will go straight into sculpting. Junior Danyelle Miller’s piece “The Surface” started out as a plan and became a progressive sculpture. Her piece incorporates a typewriter, a putty knife, a bell and a collage. The message that shaped her idea was that in the pursuit of truth, the surface is left unscratched.
“The typewriter was planned, but most other elements I included were thrift store finds. I came across a lot of things, many of which didn't fit into the piece,” Miller said.
In her search for sculpting tools, Miller acquired a few bags of items from the thrift store, tools she plans on using at a later date.
“This project helped broaden my initial opinion about sculpture; the concept of turning trash to fine art is something that changed my perspective on traditional methods,” Miller said.
Across the UNC campus, a greener message is being spread. Many departments are cutting down on paper usage by posting syllabi on Blackboard and sending students paperless bills. The art program is hosting Earth Reveries, a way of showing students what recycling and art can become when combined. The galleries are only part of what the program has in store. At the beginning of March, there are plans of building books from recycled material, and another gallery that will feature re-arrangeable poetry focusing on green issues.
“Recycling is inefficient at a local level. It’s too expensive. But in that regard the university is smart. Saying that we as a university act green and that each department is trying to cut down on wasted materials,” Capo said.
Today, Picasso’s “Bull’s Head” hangs in the Musée National Picasso, serving as an example of what can be achieved with found art. His sculpture and many other sculptures continue to show the creativity of the mind and a willingness to be able to find another meaning from something, even if it is a pile of trash.
One man’s trash is another man’s art
• The roots of found art trace back to the Dada and Surrealist Movements.
• Found art incorporates any item that the artist wishes to incorporate into a piece. Estimates of recyclables left in garbage:
• 54 to 57 percent of newsprint and paper;
• 74 percent of glass ;
• 59 percent plastic bottles;
• 70 percent of magazines.
Sources: Environmental Defense Fund, “Trashformations” by Lloyd E. Herman
