Lurid Illustrations: Joe Buglewicz, Klaus Pichler
With nearly 1/3 of all edible food parts wasted around the world annually and roughly 40% of all food in the U.S. destined for the dump, the collective disconnect and unrealistic expectations of our food supplies does the planet a tremendous amount of harm.
How so? Well, unless there’s active trash sorting and composting, food waste get dropped off in a landfill.
There, the food suffocates, desperately trying to make itself useful by re-nourishing soils. But since it sits side by side with used diapers and exhausted AA batteries, it will only amount to highly potent methane gases–the major contributors to climate change.
So what can be done? Reading journals and reports regarding food waste would be too consuming for many. However, if people could view the end game of leftover quinoa and uneaten grapes, perhaps the sights would fester in the mind and get people to think about their own food usage and consumption habits.
At least, that’s what artists Joe Buglewicz and Klaus Pichler thought with their respective artistic endeavors exploring food decay and waste.
Back in 2012, Buglewicz photographed an array of foods in his refrigerator that were lost, forgotten, or otherwise non-existent until atrophy took hold. In an article, Buglewicz explained his intentions to raise food waste awareness, and his attempt to change the way people perceive rotten food. Although his intent to cut down food waste didn’t go as planned, he felt that a visual approach could better enlighten individuals about what true rot looks like.
Similarly, Klaus Pichler decided to photograph nature taking its course after learning the harrowing facts regarding global food wastes. During an interview, Pichler explained the complexity of this project, specifically speaking about the extra research required just to track the cradle-to-grave of each food item. After capturing the lives of 55 various edibles, he was moved to make more sustainably-sound food choices, including buying locally and joining a food co-op.
Pichler’s “One Third” photography book is available for purchase here.
Relay: Mesquite’s Monster Fashion Show
Mesquite, Texas: Last Saturday at Town East Mall, recycled couture fused with the spirit of Halloween at the Great Big Spooky-Wooky Recycled Costume Contest.
This was the 6th annual recycled fashion show Keep Mesquite Beautiful has hosted, and all were welcome to submit their festive upcycled garments.
Image: Keep Mesquite Beautiful
Their main advert featured a Tim-Burton-inspired Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, (played by the mystical Helena Bonham Carter). Keep Mesquite Beautiful’s executive director Paige Swiney took the time to breakdown the process of creating the queen– a job far less taxing then you might have imagined.
Swiney and a few other board members worked together in parts, gathering and piecing together recyclables that people would come into contact with on a daily basis. The computer components were gathered at a local electronics equipment recycler, and the billboard wasn’t that much of a challenge to obtain.
“…They can hold [the billboards] for 90 days until the owner claims them. If they’re unclaimed…they will recycle them.” Keep that in mind, D.I.Y. or DIE crowd.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect about the costume was the actual construction. “We taped it onto the model,” Paige explained. “It probably took…only a few hours. The hardest part was doing the makeup.” The ease and flexibility of creating an affixed costume turned out excellent, and that approach is always easier for busy parties interested in upcycling old parts into works of wearable art.
Other costumes included this clockwork dolly and the awfully fierce cousin of Godzilla. About 4,000 people saw the show over different periods of time, which was a stellar turnout for this public event.
“There is a lot of imagination and creativity that goes into these costumes,” Paige stated. “If we created something for Halloween, or inspired people to think about their Halloween costumes differently…we can challenge people to think differently about trash.”
Sure, there’s eight days left until Halloween. But that’s more than enough time to gather materials to whip up your own recycled Halloween costume this year.
Relay: The Blood Selfie
With a lone carton of orange juice and biscuits here and there, Ted Lawson sat for hours as blood from his veins siphoned into the ink tube of an augmented digital printer. Diligently, the brush took to work, elegantly etching a nude self-portrait of Lawson for the sake of the selfie and fine art.
His current series of works collectively titled The Map Is Not The Territory have been exploring Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines in artistic creation, and this particular piece was the final installation.
Tweaking a CNC machine to function with blood instead of standard ink was the inspiration behind his self-portrait. He stated there were a couple of challenges in the creation of the vector-based piece that needed to be addressed, including how to keep the paper from curling when the blood saturated the paper.
When asked about its artistic message, he stated that “by creating a self portrait, the work references other culturally symbolic ideas to do with narcissism and inward thinking – the essence of the “selfie”, which is clearly having its moment.”
The piece has received mixed reviews, with some enraptured and others disgusted by the macabre idea. If you’re in the New York area, you can see Ted Lawson’s exhibition of works yourself from September 11th to October 4th at the Joseph Gross Gallery, located at 548 W. 28th Street.
Original Article: Dezeen
Lurid Illustrations: Paul Cummins, Tom Piper
One hundred years ago marks the anniversary of Britain’s first involvement in World War I. During the Great War, over 800,000 lives had perished, and many in the United Kingdom are currently commemorating the losses of their courageous ancestors. As of August 5th, two visionaries (along with lots of volunteers) have been installing a memorial project that not only salutes the fallen of years past, but evokes a visually-stimulating landscape which aims to elicit personal reflection and profound feelings upon sight.
Photo: Jim Crossley
Ceramic artist Paul Cummings and designer Tom Piper are the creators and overseers of Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, an interactive art exhibit currently growing at the Tower of London. From August 5th to November 11th, reddened clay will be pressed, cut and molded into poppies that will then find their way from the kiln to the art installment. Each poppy represents a fallen soul, lost but not forgotten. On the final day when the 888,246th poppy is finished and ready for placement, a ceremony will be held in respect to all the deceased heroes. The piece extends from the tower window and will envelop the moat surrounding the Tower of London, making for a breathtaking and titillating sight.
At the end of the exhibit, they hope to sell each poppy in order to raise money for one of six charities that support those involved in the British military. Each poppy is £25.00, and 10% plus all proceeds will be donated.
Photo: Historic Royal Palaces
If you want to learn more about the Historic Royal Palaces, the Tower of London, or the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red art exhibit, you can go here and read up more about the history of the tower, the role it played during the war, and more. Alternatively, if you’re English or in the UK area, why not go there to celebrate the centenary commemoration yourself?
Flora Gothica 