Olympia Dumpster Divers

While Ruby Re-Usable remains the diva of the Olympia Dumpster Divers, there are some truly talented trashettes showing off their stuff, and we finally got some pics to show you what Olympia High School students Lily Smith and Teasha Feldman have on display at the Capitol Theater in the space where Ruby had her art installation (I love the fact that they reused my wire to hang their plastic bag clothes!). Read what Molly Gilmore wrote about it HERE, view the YouTube HERE and see more pics HERE

Way back in 1999, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection challenged design students to create fashions from recycled materials; video HERE

In New Orleans, Miss Malaprop posted about Worn Again Fashion Show 2008, which included a junior trash fashion show as well as everything from totally wearable stuff to outrageous costumes to avant garde fashion

Be amazed at how fashion designers have found ways to use trash to create haute couture, otherwise known as Haute Trash with Rayona Visqueen and her crew, who have been doing trashion fashion since 1986

Nancy Judd is like the Duchess of Detritus Design; more trash fashion info from EcoFriend HERE

Everyday wearables from recycled materials can be found on the Etsy Trashion Blog and also at Great Green Goods. Junk jewelry that has recently become part of our collection includes an aluminum can hand pendant and a whistle made with bottle caps, as well as this fun necklace created by art cartist Kelly Lyles. Make Art Not Waste!

Today is the official 2nd birthday of Olympia Dumpster Divers. Ruby Re-Usable started this blog originally as a way to document her HERE TODAY 2006 temporary art installations that were commissioned by the City of Olympia, because there was simply no other way to communicate with the public about where these figures would appear as they roamed downtown Olympia in sometimes planned and sometimes spontaneous locations. Blogging also became a way to document the project, and hence, ODD was born.

And now we continue to blog about our experiences with recycled art: at Cast Off Art Lab, in Olympia, in the Pacific Northwest, in the USA and around the world, searching for information and inspiration and attempting to document the unsung and under appreciated and less well known, as well as the usual list of suspects. Make Art Not Waste remains our motto.

ODD’s first post was a birthday salute to the Queen of Recycled Art, her majesty Marita Dingus. We can not wait to show you this year’s birthday art trade (Marita and Ruby are both Cancers), we promise to keep you posted.

Last year at this time we were blogging about Ruby Re-Usable’s public participation art installation at Art On the AVE in Tacoma, as well as giving a shout out to our favorite trash blog, Everyday Trash, which will also turn 2 soon. And by some trashy synchronicity, the Visible Trash Society celebrates its one year anniversary on July 13!

Today we want to thank our web mistress, the wonderful Laurel of Lilthea Designs, who helped us get started and keeps us going. Our goals for this year are to finally get an artistic header and otherwise spiff up this basic blog, you know, grow up a little more, so stay tuned.

Oh, and if you feel like sending birthday wishes via post (Ruby is turning 50, hint hint):

Ruby Re-Usable

416 Washington St SE #201

Olympia, WA 98501 USA

In this episode of This Re-Usable Life, we visit an amazing installation created from castoffs by Richard Tracy, aka Rich Art, in Centralia, WA.

Ruby Re-Usable has been venturing the 1/2 hour south to Centralia many times since moving to Olympia in 1995, eventually taking a tour of Rich Art’s maze of sculptures and outdoor environments made from scrap lumber, styrofoam, miscellaneous metal, and other junk in June 2001. As an official Washington State Arts Commission artist-in-residence, Ruby was invited to be a teaching artist at an elementary school in Centralia for a week, working with the first graders to create recycled art dolls. While there, she encouraged the teachers to take the students on a field trip to Rich Art’s, which is within walking distance of the school, but the teachers were hesitant to take the kids to “that crazy man’s house.” My husband, who does not always appreciate Ms. Re-Usable’s unusual art-from-trash ways, would take a detour to avoid driving past Rich Art’s house, afraid that I might get some crazy ideas for our house … some folks just do not know how to appreciate this awesome artist and his overwhelmingly obsessive/creative work.

But some folks do:

In 2001, Vanessa Renwick created a documentary video about her visits to Rich Art’s. Roadside America reviews Rich Art’s visionary outsider art HERE

The Seattle Times quoted artist Richard Elliot about Rich Art: this is the “most important art site in the Northwest. ” Read the rest of this informative article HERE

Second-hand Sid and Ruby visited again this week, disappointed that Rich Art did not come out to greet them, but still thrilled just to admire what is visible from the street. More pics of Rich Art HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE but this is the kind of place that you just have to get out of your car and experience for yourself; pictures just don’t describe the feeling of being surrounded by the playful patterns and sometimes ominous creatures, all salvaged from the scrap heap and turned into a wonderland of reuse. Make Art Not Waste!

Avast there, matey! Ruby Re-Usable will be a special guest artist at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma on the 4th of July for a Tall Ships workshop: mini pirate flags out of sail cloth scraps. We’ll be making sea siren and mermaid motif flags, too, as well as Dale Chihuly pirate eye patches, arrrrrgh!!

Candy wrappers often become litter and are otherwise garbage to be discarded, but there are ways to even use these overlooked scraps to create fun recycled crafts:

Candy Wrapper Crafts features tips on making candy wrapper purses (via Art for Housewives) and so does The Purse Project

Shelly Hedges sews dresses out of empty sugar packets and Mary Jane candy wrappers. Read Eye Candy for more info

Since 2002, Ruby Re-Usable has been reusing the candy wrappers saved by her sons from bar mitzvahs, Hanukkah, Halloween, and any other time when candy happens. More HERE

Egg cartons are now recyclable in some communities; Ruby saves her cartons for Marita, who raises chickens and gives her extra eggs to friends. Some clever crafters have found new uses for egg cartons, like a recycled sewing kit on Recycled Craft Gossip and a tutorial on how to make an egg carton sewing basket via Whip Up

Enno de Kroon uses egg cartons as his canvas and calls it eggcubism. Egg carton arts and crafts for kids HERE

Since this is “Olympia Dumpster Divers” instead of “obsessive/compulsive pack rats making art out of junk, trendy upcyclers creating green crafts with idealistic intentions and other cheapskates thrifty folks finding inspiration in the free box,” every now and then we feel obligated to actually post about Olympia and dumpsters and those that wait until unwanted stuff is in the dumpster before retrieving it. Read about dumpster diving in Olympia via OlyBlog HERE then view pics of the Olympia Free Wall dumpsters HERE and HERE and finally, click on to these helpful dumpster diving hints written by some college students HERE

Ruby Re-Usable is not the only one blogging about trash — Marijke Rijsberman writes about how she accidentally fell in love with a landfill: “I have tried to explain (to myself and to others) what I find so compelling about garbage and garbage dumps …” Landfill Diaries

The EnviroHouse in Tacoma showcases artwork made from at least 95 percent salvaged materials; the 4th recycled content art display opens June 19 with an art reception at the Tacoma Transfer Station, 6 - 8 pm

The 20th annual Fremont Solstice Parade is happening June 21 at the Fremont Fair in Seattle, which also includes the Seattle Art Car Blowout Olympia Dumpster Divers always have an awesome time whenever they attend the parade and fair; read about Ruby at last year’s solstice event HERE and then see you in Fremont!

Hazard Factory double dog dares everyone to converge in Georgetown on Saturday, June 28 for the 2008 Seattle Power Tool Race and Derby (what a creative way to reuse those old chain saws and broken down skateboards you were about to give to Goodwill … )

Calls for art from recycled materials

RESURRECT: THE ART OF THE RECLAIMED OBJECT A national juried exhibition of all mediums, exploring art created from found objects, materials or items initially designed for another purpose but fashioned into works of art (submission deadline 4/6/09)

Wholly Rags hosts Arte de Descartes VIII juried recycled art show (submission deadline 8/8/08)

Ruby Re-Usable recommends that you visit the Bellevue Arts Museum this summer to admire the work of Sherri Markovitz and Mandy Greer.

We were blown away by Mandy’s newest installation, Dare alla Luce, which involves lots of crazy crocheting to create an eerie Pacific Northwest rain forest-like environment with various shades of green yarn, beads, and other materials. We first saw Mandy Greer’s fabric covered deer heads with pom poms at the now-defunct Priceless Works Gallery, but since we don’t get up north very often and therefore did not see it at Bumbershoot nor CoCA, we were thrilled to finally view the white stag installation at BAM. Jen Graves at the Stranger praised the BAM show HERE and Regina Hackett complained about it HERE and Kamala Dolphin-Kingsley posted some pics from the BAM show HERE

The Sherri Markovitz exhibit on the third floor was not open yet when we visited on Mother’s Day, but we did get to see one of her poetic pieces at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma last month.

There is also the City of Bellevue Sculpted Green juried exhibit with contemporary sculptors who, through the materials they use, techniques they employ and/or message they seek to impart relate art to ecology, environmentalism, sustainability and similar green notions; more info HERE

Question: Since you are the queen of recycled art, can you tell me what is the general-accepted definition of recycled materials? I have lots of reject copper pieces originally made for my lights that are sitting in a heap. They are unusable for my lights. If I use them in an art piece, could that be considered “recycled” art? Thanks, Bella Luz

Answer: The definition of “recycled” when it comes to recycled art varies … Ruby Re-Usable tends to be liberal when defining it, i.e, pre- and post- consumer waste, stuff that was unwanted, heading for the dumpster, etc. It does not have to be dirty, rusty, icky, picked out of the gutter or primitive-looking (not that there is anything wrong with that). I look for artists and art work that exude a spirit of recycled art through creative re-use.

Painting over an old canvas to create a new painting does not constitute recycled art, although it is an example of recycling. However, your reject copper pieces could be on the continuum of recycled art, depending on the final product and what else you have used. Also, your artist’s statement could sway the jury. But it sounds like what you are describing is recycling, not creating recycled art.

Most recycled art shows want to showcase art that is made from materials that have had a previous life and have little value and would be considered garbage or litter. Melting old, used gold jewelry to create new gold jewelry would not cut it in my book, but melting old, used aluminum cans, especially ones picked up off the street, to create something, would, even though aluminum cans are valuable and there is a healthy market for recycling them back into more aluminum cans (more info HERE).

Tree Hugger questions the use of aluminum cans in recycled art as a means to encourage recycling, but we here at Olympia Dumpster Divers believe making art from recycled materials, while not the ultimate solution to saving the world’s waste problems, is an important part of the reduce/reuse/recycle process.

I frown on items purchased new from the hardware or kitchen store that insinuate recycling (but the artists did not want to get their hands dirty or were too busy to actually take the time and effort to collect materials). Some jurors will not even accept items purchased at Goodwill or garage sales; they feel that the artists should have a personal relationship to the junk that they use. Making wallets and other stuff from duct tape, while amusing, is not recycling, unless one is using USED duct tape (never have seen examples of that). Making things from polar fleece yardage is not recycled art, even though polar fleece is a material made from recycled plastic bottles. However, making things from polar fleece scraps, especially industrial scraps that still have the pieces of pattern stuck to them, is recycled art/craft, as is making quilts from scraps. New bottle caps purchased at the beer-making supply store are not recycled materials; used bottle caps collected by bartenders or other means are recycled materials. The list goes on and on.

And there is also the question of the ART in recycled art … but that is another topic for another post!

love, etc Ruby ps read ODD’s recycled art statement HERE for more info

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There is a diverse array of junk in the dumpsters, a myriad of recycled materials available to make art, yet Ruby Re-Usable keeps coming back to the plastic, especially the plastic bags. And she is not alone.

Check out MadSilence’s posts on The Art of the Plastic Bag and Plastic Bag Art: the sequel for some plastic bag facts and some fascinating plastic bag art, including Dan Steinhilber’s Plastic Bag Chandelier, Ruby Re-Usable’s plastic bag people, and Judith Selby Lang’s replica of Ryoan-ji Garden in Kyoto made entirely out of plastic bags and other recycled materials.

The Visible Trash Society has the YouTube link to Lang’s garden HERE

It’s kind of nice. Here plastic bags are the scourge of the highways and oceans, choking aquatic wildlife and making whole islands in the sea, and artists everywhere are turning them into a material of art. Plastic Bagalicious on the Green Museum blog.

Episode Three of Leave No Plastic Behind reality-based art exhibit opens June 12 in PDX (that’s Portland, Oregon, USA), where select artists try to live a plastic-free lifestyle for 3 months and make art out of the plastic that they do happen to use during that time period.

Our favorite piece in the London Zoo Recycled Sculpture Show is this polar bear and cub made with polystyrene, sheet, chicken mesh and plastic bags: