Looking at Junk from Another Perspective
If you picked 10 people out of a crowd, showed each of them an empty glass jar, and asked, "What would you, or could you, do with this?" you would probably get at least five , or more, answers:
- "Recycle it" - "Throw it away" - "Turn it into a vase" - "Keep change in it" - "Save it until I find a need for it" etc., etc.
You get the picture.
Everyone looks at junk differently. In fact, not everyone will agree that a certain item IS junk. Case in point, today’s post. I’ve noticed some very clever people who take "junk" and turn it into large, interesting creations. Look at the links below for examples. Some of these projects are works in progress and have been morphing since the 1980′s.
This Texas man, known as a "yardist," was featured on NPR for building a cathedral of junk:
http://www.savethejunk.org/Save_the_Cathedral/Videos.htmlThis gentleman has created an entire sci-fi environment in Wisconsin:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2239And this man is a professionally trained artist whose yard is his gallery:
http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/04/werner-schmidts-junkyard-folly/
While I marvel at the creativity of these people, I have to wonder how attached they are to their "stuff." Would they willingly give/donate/sell their works? Where do you draw the line between craft or clutter? It’s a difficult call. And certainly, this "art" isn’t always appreciated. As a couple of women commented at the end of one of these stories, "I’m glad he doesn’t live next to me."
Leave a comment and let me know what you think of these yardists and their creations.
There must be thousands of actual junkyards in the USA. What’s keeping their neighbors so quiet?? organizedxBISOS@twitter.com
Hello Jane,
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Working with hoarders and their stuff has my wheels turning about the relationship between objects being displayed, ownership of beautiful things and not-so-beautiful things and taking the ordinary and creating something not so ordinary.
Here’s more information that you ever wanted to know about me~
I’ve always been interested in portraiture and especially in self-portraits. I’m especially interested in hoarders who see things as extensions of themselves and how they keep/hoard their possessions. The idea of one portraying themselves thru mediums like sculpture or painting is of great interest to me. The idea of hoarders keepings specific categories of things, in a jumble, is of interest to me.
End of true confession.
Fascinating, while it is art especially the second and third, I am not sure I would appreciate it as much if it were right next door.
For me it raises the ‘art vs. craft’ conversation as well as other topics such as when one takes an ordinary, utilitarian object and creates something to be looked at, marveled at – - no longer useful – - just a stationary object. Thanks for your comment. It’s a subject I’m really interested in. Maybe I can find someone who does stuff like this to interview for a future blog post.
In Sebastopol California, Patrick Amiot creates amazing works of yardart and is now quite famous for it: http://www.patrickamiot.com/art.html
He uses old cars, watering cans, mops, brooms basically anything that will stand up to the weather. His sculptures are all over town – a Noah’s Ark in front of a church, a giant dog out in front of the SPCA, a firetruck in front of the local firestation. The street where he lives is covered in his art and it is truly amazing – almost every neighbor has a piece of art in the front yard. The difference here is that he sells his art – it is all over town, rather than just in his yard. He is able to create and then give it to someone else to enjoy.