Billie Maciunas is coming out with a book soon, The Eve of Fluxus. She also recently published a book of poetry, Unsettled Oranges, written in the wake of the death of her husband George Maciunas. Here she is in a trash outfit fittingly entitled “the return of the repressed”. Billie has had no TV since 1972.
Sangomas are African shamans. This photo of five sangomas was shot by Andy Rabagliati at a ceremony in Zululand. Click on ze pic and notice the crushed cans around their ankles . . .
My mom used to glue tab cans together to make coffee tables, but that’s nothing compared to this Tab can bikini top by Ingrid Goldbloom Bloch – wow! I discovered it via The Wall Street Journal thanx to trash tipster Darley Adare. But here’s the bad news: the market for trash has crashed: you can’t even sell the stuff anymore! Yanbukis, on your mark, get set, GO!
photo: Dean Powell
Wow, look what I found: old news, still good: EnviroCouture!
Mrs. Green over at myzerowaste.com invited me to participate in the carnival of trash, which is all about how people are helping to eliminate landfill waste. I guess I help by not buying crap with lots of plastic packaging, but mostly I just run this blog and play with trash. Wanna see the hat I made using a couple of Tetra Paks and some paint?
Actually, running this blog is part of my interest in education and design, and their relationship to one another. Changing bad habits requires learning good ones, but becoming conscious enough to take action only happens when you’re revolted. So how’s this for a revolting image:
“Inside a landfill, there is little oxygen and little moisture. Under these conditions, trash does not break down very rapidly. In fact, when old landfills have been excavated or sampled, 40-year-old newspapers have been found with easily readable print.” And that’s not even the stinky part!
quote from How Landfills Work by Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.
In researching the subject of landfills, I came across a treasure: Mierle Laderman Ukeles… see below.
I’m in Croatia at the moment, making the most of my trash. Here’s a hat I made using a milk carton and a plastic bag. The visor is nice and big, so I can go out in the burning sun and keep a little shade on my face.
To tie this thing to my head I cut a plastic bag in half, braided each half and attached a braid to both tips of the fat crescent shape I’d cut from the milk carton. I also made a decorative fold on the visor, but you don’t have to. A few plastic doo-dads on top and voilà, I’m ready to hit the beach in trashy style.
Diane Kurzyna a.k.a Ruby Re-Usable has made some new artwork in conjunction with a street art show at The Black Front Gallery in Olympia, Washington. Shown here is her Dumpster Diva. The show, on through April 30th, includes Adie Janci, Diane Kurzyna, Joe Penrod, Skie Road, Laura Sharp, Rodrigo Valenzuela, and a crew of grafitti artists from around the Northwest: Sine, Baso, 1+1=3, Veks, Slutz, Jeans etc.
“Haute Trash has a long and rich history dating back to the early 1980’s when late founder Susan Lamela began creating fashion from trash to provide an irreverent look at our disposable society. Today, trash fashion is an idea that has caught on worldwide, and Haute Trash is proud of having been at the forefront of this movement.” (from hautetrash.org)
Read the interview with Haute Trash VP Robin Worley (a.k.a. Rayona Visqueen) at everydaytrash.com.
Jamie Kuli McIntosh made this ball gown out of the blue plastic protective covering that comes on sheets of plexiglass. The corset underneath is made of 225 mustard packets.Wow! Read all about it on her blog, Twisted Textiles.
