Tuesday, January 29, 2019
'One Man's Trash': Peter Kokis's 100%-Recycled Robots
The Atlantic: There’s nothing, it would seem, that Peter Kokis can’t turn into a robot. The Brooklyn performance artist makes cyborgs out of 100 percent recycled materials—oftentimes salvaged from the trash. He builds the 170-pound costumes on his kitchen table. When he’s done, Kokis parades through the streets, a veritable Transformer among mortals.
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The dedication Peter Kokis has to his art is incredible. The fact that he has trained his body to be used to 120 degree heat to prepare for wearing the suits is absolutely mind boggling. Given the social sacrifices he has made in addition to his physical commitment, I assume he truly has a huge investment in it. The robots he makes are incredibly eye catching, and the fact that they’re made with recycled materials makes them even more so. I love that he makes all of these himself and by hand, because they honestly look like something straight out of the Transformers franchise or another big Hollywood film. I wonder what kinds of tools and equipment he keeps around (other than some of the obvious ones from the video) in order to create the suits, given that his studio is his house. Overall, Kokis seems like a determined, positive person, and it definitely reflects in his work.
I always appreciate reading about or, if an opportunity arises, experiencing art about sustainability through a variety of mediums. It seems that a philosophy of sustainability is central in Peter Kokis' mission. I love that he creates his art from entirely sustainable components as a reminder of the power of recycling. When we recycle, we aren't simply sending a sheet of paper to be shredded or a can to be melted down; We are actually re-unlocking the potential of that material by returning it to its base form. As Kokis explains, “I look for complexity in everyday objects... I look at an object and see its potential.” Through shedding light on this shifted view on recycling, I think we as a society can truly create change in reducing our waste and overall carbon footprint. It seems that Alex Craig, one of the folks who shot a documentary about Kokis, agrees with this line of thought. He explains that “[Kokis' work] opened our minds about how much we, as a community, are wasting... We might not all be able to make cool robots out of trash, but if we all put our minds together, we can figure out how to repurpose materials that would usually end up in the trash. If you think outside the box, we are capable of much more than we realize.”
These costumes are wicked cool! It truly is spectacular how Kokis has found the complexity and beauty in household items and has exhibited them in such a unique and captivating way. I agree with Sammy that it is truly spectacular how dedicated this man is to his craft, and it truly does show. He has turned household objects into unrecognizable, brilliant robot creations.
I disagree with AL on sustainability being at the core of Kokis’s philosophy. I think he aims to create with what he can get his hands on, and his core mission seems to be much more about utilizing the the materials you have. Ultimately he is a performer, and he creates for his performances with the materials he has around him. I used to also build things out of the objects I could find around the house or the dump, and it is much more about using what you have, rather than sustainability. I have no doubt that recycling and reusing is also important to him, I just do not think it is the focus of the work he does.
This is the first time that I have been introduced to Peter Kokis’s work and my god I love it ohh so much. This is such a different kind of performance art. I think this is so cool. He uses so many different items and techniques to his work as he makes his creations to show off to different people. The dedication he takes isn’t truly to preserving or showcasing his work as art but using them as a performance piece for himself and for the work around him. Making his apartment hot just so that he can endure the conditions inside his suits is pure dedication and nothing else. He works with every bit of intention to create something that will be showcase to the world. The items that he uses are evidence as he is always looking at and thinking of different things that he can use in his new suits and robots.
I admit, I was a little disappointed when I realized that he was essentially making very elaborate costumes, rather than actual robots. Watching the video, however, I was reminded of how often in our work we use a household item to substitute for something fantastical in performance. Fairly frequently, I find myself watching something and a specialized object comes into view. As often as not, the specialized object was not invented or fabricated from scratch; it was cobbled together from existing components. As the artist shows, taking an everyday object of of context gives it a different significance. Zoomed in on the juicer alone, it is obviously a juicer. Looking at it in the context of the robot, it is obviously the business end of a laser gun. The artist has come up with a sort of visual improvisation, reorganizing concepts and categories, manifesting a childlike imagination in a tangible collection of objects.
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