Manufactured Landscapes: Edward Burtynsky’s View of the World

Edward Burtynsky is not your average photographer. Sure he takes photos of grand vistas, captures intricate detail, and creates a narrative with his content, but it’s his truly unique subject matter that really sets him apart. Factories, landfills, and quarries are not often the typical venues for creating beautiful photography, but these are exactly what Burtynsky’s work is focused on. The fruit of his labor is expertly captured and can be seen in the award winning feature documentary film, Manufactured Landscapes. Throughout the film, Burtynsky’s large-scale photographs of the man-made industrial world are both awe-inspiring and deeply haunting at the same time. His photos provide viewers with a truly tangible glimpse into the many negative externalities of our global civilization.

In the documentary, Burtynsky travels throughout China photographing the giant factories that continuously churn out most of the world’s consumable goods. He captures the controversial Three Gorges Dam, the largest dam in the world that has displaced over a million people and the barren and scarred landscapes of massive coal mines. Ironically, through his unique lens, Burtynsky is able to find beauty in a world seemingly devoid of it.

By letting his work speak for itself, Burtynsky is able present the many beautiful and evocative images to the audience in an unbiased and effective way. He efficiently conveys the massive scale of modern societies ills with images alone. Although Manufactured Landscapes has been out for a few years, its deeply moving content will continue to be relevant for years to come.

Manufactured Landscapes Website

Eco-Art this Halloween

Halloween is right around the corner, and New Delhi based artist Subodh Gupta has gotten into the spirit of things with his creation of a giant skull made from recycled kitchenware. The skull was shown at the annual Frieze Art Fair in London and is a great example of using reclaimed material in a creative way.

The Frieze Art fair is held every October in Regent’s Park in London and is a great platform for contemporary artists to showcase their work. Along with varied art galleries, visitors can listen to special artist presentations, and take part in educational programs provided on site.

Crafted from old kitchenware, the Skull is a prime example of the work of Subodh Gupta. Gupta is best known for his creative use of everyday reclaimed items and has worked in numerous mediums like paint, photography, video and performance. Gupta’s use of everyday found items is a unique take on the intricacies of Indian society today and sheds new light on the everyday objects used in his pieces.

Ecofriend blog on Gupta

Reclaiming Materials In a Remarkable Way

Bill Harding aka “Gene Pool” is a Brooklyn, New York based artist. For over a decade now he has been experimenting with reclaiming objects using the materials to make outfits. He has a series of suits, each fabricated to send a message about recycling or the environment. Through frequent appearances in the New York area he shows off his suits to the public. His work “Can Man” is a wearable suit created using 500 aluminum cans. Another piece of his work is called “The $uit”. It weighs 52 pounds and is covered with pennies.

Cohda Designs: URE plastic sculptures

Designers today are thinking up new ways to make everyday products out of this excess of recycled materials.   This type of new market gives designers an opportunity to develop new materials, experiment, design, and create. With advances in tools and processes, and an excess of waste we have a clear and direct opportunity.

Cohda Designs a UK based design group has developed a new process for recycled plastic called U.R.E.- Un-cooled Recycled Extrude.  Due to the limitations of pre-manufactured recycled sheets these men invented their own process for melting down raw recyclable trash (plastic packaging) to create a new material.  First they feed the machine materials that they collect form viewers or the community, it spits out small pellets, then they feed that to the melter which spits out a taffy-like extruded rod.  They then sculpt it around a mold to create a functional piece of furniture.  Since discovering that the creation of these chairs makes a great performance, Cohda Designs has taken their packaging eating machine to trade shows around the world.  They call their events the Public Recycling Factory.