Junk art and trash art are interchangeable terms. This is a sub-genre of found art, where a piece of art is created from pieces that have previously been discarded as trash or junk. There are many national organizations that offer junk art competitions as a way of making the public more aware of the things they discard, that will sit in a landfill. Not only is junk art and trash art a way of creating awareness, but also helps those who are going ‘green’ to erase some of their carbon footprint by reusing objects.
One artist in particular is known for her junk art or trash art, named Nadia Iliffe. Nadia creates found or recycled art pieces such as one entitled Websolated. This piece is said to illustrate the way a person feels when their mate turns to the Internet and computers in general. This piece was made from computer parts and metals, all of which could be considered junk art or trash art due to the fact that they were discarded or no longer being used prior to their use in this piece.
Another great artist named Lane Patterson creates junk art from reclaimed or recycled pieces to create meaningful and unique pieces of art. One piece called Dragonfly, offers a sculpture from plumbing and electrical parts as well as resin grapes from long ago with other vintage objects incorporated. He offers many pieces that are all created from reclaimed or recycled pieces to create junk art that gives the viewer an idea of exactly what he felt when he created each piece.
Mark Langan is another of many junk artists that offer reclaimed materials to create beautiful pieces of expression. One particular piece is entitled Homage to the Scream, and is created from reclaimed corrugated cardboard and offers details much like the original ‘Scream’ piece by artist Edvard Munch. Each piece created by Langan is made totally of glue and corrugated boxes, a true patron of eco friendly living.
A high end junk artist named Gabriel Dishaw offers pieces from back in the mid 90s, and all are made from pieces of metal as well as gears and wires in running shoes. One piece in particular named Frankenstein Terminator is fashioned after the Nike High Terminator shoe and comes with a shoebox, diagram and shoe tags with labels.
With all the junk art and trash art artists that compile the masses, it is hard to find one that you would like the best. Regardless of your stance on eco friendly art, the fact that these artists are making a large impact on the carbon footprint we all leave behind in our trash and items we discard without another thought. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure, and in this case the artists mentioned are able to take that junk and make something that all can enjoy. No matter our eco status, all can appreciate the joys of beautiful art and the painstaking ills that artists go through to make them come to life.
