www.designboom.com: on the site of an abandoned motel in downtown las vegas, bordalo II has debuted his most ambitious installation to date — ‘wild wild waste’. the portuguese activist and ecologic artist is widely known for his ‘trash animal’ installations made from materials like plastics found in wastelands, dumpsters, abandoned factories, scrap yards and recycling centers.
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These sculptures are really beautiful, but also sad when you think about how we are replacing the natural world with trash. I’d really love to go see these in person, I don’t think the photos really do them justice given how large they are and how impressive they would be in person. The whale especially reminds me of The City Museum in St. Louis, which is a reused materials sculptural playground. I don’t think The City Museum is quite as visually impressive as these, but there is also an entrance to a secret passage hidden inside the whale, so it isn’t as if both places have the same goal. Looking at these also makes me wonder how feasible scenery made of trash would be. It would obviously need to be a design choice, but I wonder what we could get away with structurally or if the trash would just be an exterior layer over an otherwise standard framework.
This article is interesting because it is mostly pictures with just a little bit of background information at the top. The way this article is set up is very much the way one would experience this installation: maybe receive a brief background of the artist or the piece and then just walk around and look at the art. So I read the article and then spent a long time just looking at the pictures. I think this is an amazing installation. He did not just make this because he could or just for the sake of it. This piece has a meaning and a message that Bordalo is trying to say. My two favorite elements of this installation are the way he plays with size and color. The massiveness of the piece is very important because it helps to show how big of a problem waste is in the world and how much of it is harming nature and wildlife. His use of color is very interesting and how he makes some parts of the animals look like the actual animal and some bright colors to look more abstract. I have not quite figured out the meaning behind the color yet, but I do think it is beautiful. And it really can show how something so beautiful can be made from essentially trash.
This art exhibit is very striking in both it’s beauty and its pertinence in our society of waste. Considering the theatre industry is quite wasteful in itself we need to accept and be willing to seek solutions to attempt to change it. Though just changing our practices isn’t quite that simple and more permanent and impactful solutions will take more time to develop. The ex-biology almost environmental science major gets very annoyed and angry with myself for choosing a career which revolves around producing so much waste but I think powerful art like this has the ability to inspire change on a large scale, Since we’re in the industry of creating art I think aligning with artists who have this as an important message for them you can ideally create things to inspire people while slowly trying to change industry standards to more environmentally conscience choices and exploring new avenues to get there.
These are awesome! I noticed someone above me mentioned these being reminiscent of the City Museum and I couldn't agree more. That is my number one place to bring people who visit. The City Museum is essentially a playground made from recycled materials in a gigantic building which was abandoned. These trash animals create something beautiful out of trash with their brightly colored halves, but the nature of the material is not denied as the contrast between the colored and uncolored half reminds the audience of what they are being shown. The specific choice to use highly saturated, glossy colors gives the trash the appearance of children's toys, which I believe are a pretty significant part of the makeup of our garbage. The carbon footprint of children in their first few years of life is astronomically high. The artist is trying to send the message that longer lasting products are the future and must be adopted before we become consumed by the garbage we create.
These are stunning sculptures that have so much to unpack emotionally about them. My first reaction was to be stunned by the elegance and beauty with which they have been put together, which was very quickly followed by a realization of the artist message on what we as humans have done to the world and are continuing to do as we fill it with garbage and harm it. I think that this is a very powerful example of a message ringing loud and clear through the image while still maintaining the beauty and power of the piece. The whale is especially beautiful to look at. That is often a hard line for artists to walk, on occasion the balance between message and delivery is not nearly as elegant. I would love to be able to see these in person as their size must add so much more!
The article, Enormous ‘trash animals’ inhabit an abandoned motel in las vegas, discussed the installation art of the portugese activist and ecological artist, Bordalo II. Bordalo, is famous of his creations, often of huge wild animals, made out of human waste. In this article Nina azzarello focuses on his most recent exhibit, ‘Wild Wild Wate’. One of the producers of the project Justkids said ‘bordalo is inspired by the rejected, the broken, the wasted, somehow our everyday,’. I love that not only his final project but the material’s he used to make his installations, solidifyed his message. Bordalo, and this article really inspires me to think about the material I’m using, not only enviromentally, but creativly (currently worked on a line and form installation project). During my current and future projects, I can think more about the material I’m using when brainstorming an idea or even let the materials inspire me themselves.
I really love bordalo II’s work presented here, entitled “Wild Wild Waste.” I think he did a really great job at calling out human error, by making an art installation out of our own trash. Using one’s materials against them in such a way, really helps to invoke certain feelings from a viewer, so they understand how they are responsible for certain actions. I specifically liked how some of the animals he created were painted half realistic, and half in a more abstract/artistic style. This gave me the idea that bordalo is trying to convey that this is not just art, it’s real life too and people need to understand that there is a difference, and that he is trying to make a statement here. I’ve always loved art made of unconventional materials and I really like how bordalo was able to incorporate the significance of the materials into the message of the piece.
This installation is spectacular, in every way. So often, artists walk the fine line of being charged with conveying a message, however if it comes across too preachy, audiences tend not to listen. This seems to be the perfect execution of "show, don't tell." This exhibit clearly communicates the damage we have inflicted upon our environment and its inhabitants, while still being absolutely beautiful and awesome at the same time. I especially like the balance of color with the black and white starkness that Bordalo II infused into each piece. It captures the natural beauty that is present all around us, while reminding us of how we have been consistently erasing this essential aspect of our environment and, in essence, killing it off. I also appreciate that he uses the very materials that are harming the animals, such as trash, to build not only their surroundings but also the creatures themselves. It is showing us the error in our own ways, while simultaneously recycling the very material we would otherwise throw into a landfill.
This is so beautiful and depressing to witness, it’s soul tearing. These are magnificent sculptures merging realism and fantasy. It is art that invites us to reflect on the damage we are doing to the entire planet, in a utter fantasy way. I love how it combines realistic colors and textures and mixes it with bright and surreal shapes. Also, the composition of these sculptures leave a lot to be said. The lion in the cage, and the whale in the net, it’s not only, “our wild animals are made of trash, because of what they’re eating”, but also are treated like trash. It is very impactful in a beautiful way. I am also marveled at the use of trash for this, it created upcycled art! And gave the whole project way more depth. I wish it was in an accessible place for more people to see and appreciate. That way more lives could be impacted by it.
I really love it when artists can take obscure materials and are able to make them into art pieces. I think the way that Bordalo uses trash to make art instead of letting the waste go into the environment and the ocean. The materials used when making something else is pretty important to the emotions the piece gives off. Wood gives a different feel than felt or concrete. Bordalo’s pieces would not be so beautiful and simultaneously saddening if he’d created the animals out of more conventional art materials such as clay. These huge trash animals really speak to the damage we’re doing to our planet. The fact that they are made from the trash that is actively killing our planet really makes you stop and think, and the gigantic size of them makes them impossible to ignore. A couple years ago I drew a tree but made completely out of different types of trash as a political statement for class, and this reminded me of it. I think it would be good for me to try and expand out of materials that I know how to use and use materials that might make more of a statement.
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