Reusing and Recycling in Design
A new Way to Sustain: Upcycling
Artists have come up with a new art form that helps sustain the environment and create sculptures, mixed media, and new household objects from old materials that other people throw away. It is called upcycling.
The best way to practice sustainability is to follow the three r’s; reduce, reuse, and recycle. Some tips for practicing this are the following:
Some artists and designers have used upcycling to launch successful businesses. In Vienna Austria one artist has used bins of industrial waste and leftover textiles to create handbags. A british firm Elvis and Kress work with items such as condemned fire hoses to create purses.
South African designer Heath Nash turns discarded bottles and caps into colourful lampshades.
In this project there will be two assignments.
Assignment #1
1. You can either work together with one or two partners or by yourself to draw and design an ideal art classroom using only recycled and reused materials. You will first need to consider the following:
2. With your partner you need to decide how you will create your art room. Will you use a computer, draw your ideas on paper, paint a floor plan, or create a three-dimensional model of your design.
3. Next you will need to find examples of different kinds of material that could be reused and recycled to make walls, floors, doors, windows, a roof and furnishings. Consider materials that are not usually considered for constructing buildings (example one artist chose to use bottle caps for his mosaic floor) Use your sketchbooks to write down your ideas and sketch out plans. You may want to once again research what other artists, designers and architects have done to upcycle.
4. Plan and draw out different combinations of materials and how they might work in an art room setting before you begin to produce your final project.
5. Complete your art room design. and present it to the class. Write a one-page description of the materials you chose and why you decided to use these materials. Answer the following in your paper:
Assessment:
You will be marked with the art rubric and the following criteria should be met before handing in a completed assignment:
Assignment #2
1. With your same partner create a piece of art from recycled material. The first step is to brainstorm with your partner what type of material you can re-use. (magazines, plastic bottles, cardboard etc. )
2. Once you have chosen the material you will use the next step will be to research different types of art that have already been created with that particular material.
3. Plan your design in your sketchbooks and experiment with different shapes, materials and equipment prior to completing your project.
4. Complete your piece of art that you have created from recycled material.
Assessment:
You will be marked with the art rubric and the following criteria should be met before handing in a completed assignment:
A new Way to Sustain: Upcycling
Artists have come up with a new art form that helps sustain the environment and create sculptures, mixed media, and new household objects from old materials that other people throw away. It is called upcycling.
The best way to practice sustainability is to follow the three r’s; reduce, reuse, and recycle. Some tips for practicing this are the following:
- draw rough copy on the back of used paper
- working in natural light whenever possible
- cut up unwanted pieces of art to use as mixed media
- reuse plastic as paint palettes
- clean your brushes in a bucket of water instead of running them under the tap
- use old clothing as cleaning rags
- store unused art supplies and equipment in recycled containers
- dispose of chemicals/electronics in recycling depots
Some artists and designers have used upcycling to launch successful businesses. In Vienna Austria one artist has used bins of industrial waste and leftover textiles to create handbags. A british firm Elvis and Kress work with items such as condemned fire hoses to create purses.
South African designer Heath Nash turns discarded bottles and caps into colourful lampshades.
In this project there will be two assignments.
Assignment #1
1. You can either work together with one or two partners or by yourself to draw and design an ideal art classroom using only recycled and reused materials. You will first need to consider the following:
- the size of the art room
- the functions (what students will need to do their work)
- the types of materials you will need to create your model of the art room
- the basic furnishings of the art room
2. With your partner you need to decide how you will create your art room. Will you use a computer, draw your ideas on paper, paint a floor plan, or create a three-dimensional model of your design.
3. Next you will need to find examples of different kinds of material that could be reused and recycled to make walls, floors, doors, windows, a roof and furnishings. Consider materials that are not usually considered for constructing buildings (example one artist chose to use bottle caps for his mosaic floor) Use your sketchbooks to write down your ideas and sketch out plans. You may want to once again research what other artists, designers and architects have done to upcycle.
4. Plan and draw out different combinations of materials and how they might work in an art room setting before you begin to produce your final project.
5. Complete your art room design. and present it to the class. Write a one-page description of the materials you chose and why you decided to use these materials. Answer the following in your paper:
- does the design use only reused and/or recycled materials?
- in what way does the design provide a good example of the reuse or recycling of materials?
- what part of this process did you find rewarding and what was the most challenging?
Assessment:
You will be marked with the art rubric and the following criteria should be met before handing in a completed assignment:
- Your final creation should be placed as a setting (3D objects in 3D space) whether you created a drawing or model.
- You piece should be worth at least (minimum) of 8 hours of craftsmanship.
- There should be attention to details
- Proper techniques application (whatever media you use it should be used appropriately)
- Creativity in upcycling products
Assignment #2
1. With your same partner create a piece of art from recycled material. The first step is to brainstorm with your partner what type of material you can re-use. (magazines, plastic bottles, cardboard etc. )
2. Once you have chosen the material you will use the next step will be to research different types of art that have already been created with that particular material.
3. Plan your design in your sketchbooks and experiment with different shapes, materials and equipment prior to completing your project.
4. Complete your piece of art that you have created from recycled material.
Assessment:
You will be marked with the art rubric and the following criteria should be met before handing in a completed assignment:
- Your final creation should be a model of what you have created.
- You piece should be worth at least (minimum) of 8 hours of craftsmanship.
- There should be attention to details.
- Proper techniques application (whatever media you use it should be used appropriately)
- Creativity in upcycling products.