Art and recycling share a long, interwoven history. Art historians have found scores of examples in which artists have reused canvases or repurposed sculptures to create new works. Take Picasso’s The Crouching Beggar for example. In 2018, researchers discovered that Picasso had painted the work over a landscape (believed to be by Santiago Rusinol) to create his own work. These days, the practice of reusing or repurposing material to create works of art has entered a new renaissance of creativity and conservation. In Brazil, artist Vik Muniz specializes in reproducing masterpieces with recycled materials that range from trash to shredded magazines, wires, puzzle pieces and even dust. Floridian artist, Derek Gores creates masterful collages with shredded magazines, labels and more to create portraits of women or images of everyday life. Nick Gentry, a London based artist has earned worldwide attention by painting futuristic portraits onto floppy discs (for you Gen Z folks out there, those are old computer discs). He also uses old film rolls, VHS tapes and more. As might be expected given the wealth of artistic talent in British Columbia, the creative use of recycled material in art has also taken hold in Greater Victoria. Victoria sculptor, Melanie Golder, has used oil barrels to create magnificent lanterns, old phone and wire parts to create a sculptural reflection on love and belonging, and a fascinating crocheted collection of discarded wire to create an interactive sculpture that mimics an evolving neural network. Shawn Wolf, another Victoria artist, has created his own take on the throne from Game of Thrones. In that story, warriors beat their swords into a throne for the new ruler. In Wolf’s work, swords have been replaced with discarded keyboards. “I call it the throne of nerds,” said Wolf. “I get a little angry about all the stuff we throw away and I like the idea of giving it a new utilitarian use.” Some of the most innovative use of recycled materials in Victoria can be found at Monkey C Interactive, where artists David Parfit, Heather Troy and Scott Amos have created and displayed a series of strange and whimsical sculptures and art pieces that never fail to capture the imagination of visitors. The pieces are interactive and the public can enter their gallery to touch and play the sculptures in a surrealistic atmosphere that is, well, very different. “We make stuff out of other stuff,” said Amos, whose business card lists his occupation as “Mostly Harmless Mad Scientist.” “We basically take old tech and antiques and modify them to give them new life as interactive art music sculptures,” Amos explained. “There was this family who had a hardware store in the 1950s and when it shut down in the 60s they took this cash register and stored it in their basement. Over the years their children, and later grandchildren, played with it but they eventually were downsizing and didn’t know what to do with it. It was of no use, but it had all these memories attached to it, so they didn’t want to send it to the scrap heap.” Amos and his partner reimagined the register and turned it into Registroid – a piece that has been displayed all over North America. “We added sound responsive LED lights and modified it into a tech music looping machine. Press the buttons and music plays and if you hit just the right combination of buttons the cash drawer opens and it’s full of candy,” said Amos. The motivation for the group’s use of recycled material is, in part at least, rooted in a desire to find creative ways to reuse things that otherwise would be relegated to the junk pile. “We give things new life. Some of these things are beautiful works of art in themselves,” said Amos. “Take the old ‘tombstone’ radio sets – those big freestanding machines with wooden cabinets and rounded tops. They put a lot of work into creating them.” “It speaks to the world that we live in today that we don’t fix or reuse things anymore. We simply replace anything that breaks. We want to change that, and our art does that. When we’re done with the items, they can’t be mass produced or reproduced. Every piece is different and a piece of art that can endure.” Monkey C Interactive can be found at 706 Fort St., and the work of Melanie Golder can be viewed at shimmerandflow.com. [https://shimmerandflow.com/]
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