NDI Gallery

Miller Lagos of Columbia has built a “Book Igloo” to subtly put across the message for recycling. In this time and age where tablets and –books have become more prevalent, there has been a huge shift away from conventional books. But there are a lot of people who still waste a lot of paper and have discarded their old books. The artist has created an artistic dome using such books. His igloo is not the conventional type of igloo but something more artistic. 

Beer lovers can now impress any critics by using the Beer can art forms to express their love for beer and recycling. Every year, beer cans and bottles that are trashed contribute to environmental pollution when they remain untreated. A Texas based company that designs innovative home decor has come up with a remarkable idea of using discarded beer bottles to create fixtures that would enthrall beer lovers and non drinkers alike. Simply created fixtures are a sure shot reminder of how useful can recycling be.

An artist from Charlotte, North Carolina, David Edgar has created mini sculptures out of discarded plastic and these have evolved into a project called Plastiquarium. This project comprises of fish artistically made from plastic. The artist himself considers his work as enigma because he finds it pretty remarkable how so many seemingly un-connected objects help create such singular forms which are not only artistic but also a stark reminder of what all can one do with disposable objects. Plastiquarium is an influential art form depicting importance of recycling.

Nothing sends a message across better than an artistic campaign. Fost Plus has come up with a simple and an effective ad campaign against littering. This campaign has a tag line that says “Litter Belongs in the trash bin”. However it is not the tagline but the art that it brings with it catches attention. The campaign features a magazine with litter on it. Raw in creativity and effectiveness of this art form is what has made this campaign really successful.

If your kids have stopped using straws for their drink, do not throw the straws away. Designer Scott Jarvie has come up with many interesting interior decoration ideas and his latest is the Clutch Light which has been made using recycled colorful striped drinking straws. The designer has used hundreds of straws to create an item that looks cute and elegant at the same time. This lamp is in the shape of a pie and can be hung on the wall.

Metallic mesh thrown away can now be used to make ornamental statements. Recycled mesh jewelry has recently taken the fashion world by storm. Designer Ashley Winnington-Ball’s jewelry is so fashionable and gorgeous that it is hard to believe that it is made out of recycled materials. The artist reclaims any mesh that has been thrown away and converts them into necklace, amulets and the like. These designs are exquisite and avant garde. The style ranges from traditional to neo contemporary.

Aesthetic art forms use 100% garbage and can make them look like a striking creative design. Nycgarbage.com is one such website that has portrayed garbage art in its newest avatar. The artist from NYC collects garbage strewn at different places on different occasions and packs them in transparent, plastic boxes in a manner that they look like items from an art gallery. The artist creates stupendous art forms just by the use of simple boxes and trash that he has collected over a period of time.

Never throw away an old tire. It can be formed into pots. Ubeauty is an organization that has mastered the art of using rubber tires to convert them into beautiful pots for the garden. This is a beautiful transformation of something that would have cluttered and polluted the environment but has been effectively changed into a tool for the growth of plants. These pots are available in different sizes and styles and due to the raw material used, do not break easily.

 Romanian Designer Group Square 2 Design has created a house that has an eco friendly design. each of these houses has got walls covered with foliage and an indoor green house. Though the houses look small on the outside but they are quite spacious inside. The furniture inside is eco friendly and constructed from recycled and bio degradable material. The Green House in the house is a concept that is one of its kind which is fairly easy to maintain.

Make the proposal to woo your loved one by using the eco friendly engagement rings. These rings have been designed by the Ken + Dana company to bring forth the jewels that are a part of a holistically eco conscious life that is much more realistic. These jewelry items have the cutting edge style and any stones that are used are not from war torn areas. They abide by small scale mining techniques that are environment friendly and use recycled metal as much as possible.

There is not a lot of use that one can think of when it comes to old tires, however Euroshield has started to use old and discarded tires to make shingles to form roofs. This recycled rubber roofing system was found by Mr. Henry Kamphuis who in the process found a comprehensive solution for excess availability of waste rubber tires. This roofing system comes in 4 styles and looks including Euroslate, Euroshake, Handsplit and EuroShake Taper-Sawn. All these designs have used discarded tires.

Seventh Generation, a  giant in laundry detergents has now launched new packaging which consists of 96% of recycled content. For all those who are involved in plastic recycling understand that pushing recycling to 96% is a huge task. There are no harmful industrial chemicals that are used by the company in making their product and with the recycled containers, the company not only has come to limelight but also is helping spread recycling awareness.

Photographers know best that the reel of a camera can become a huge item that gets wasted once it is developed. To ensure that this is known to all, photographers Trevor and Larissa used an innovative method and a very important occasion to spread the word out for recycling. They created their wedding invites on the photography theme and packed them into recycled 35 mm film canisters. This canister can be used again after the invite has been pulled out of them.

Who said that the containers on the ship docking yards cannot be used for anything else? The Dpavilions Architects have come up with an idea that is innovative, refreshing and stylish. The Indonesian firm has found a remarkable use of these containers and they use them to build a house that is interesting indeed. They call it the “Contertainer” which is a fusion of container and entertainer. Attractive styling is what makes this design special and intriguing. This is one of the best use of such large containers. 

If you have some spoons and forks that you wish to discard then think again. These spoons and forks can be designed into something useful and utilitarian. There are people who have thought of some innovative ways to use the spoons and forks and convert them into stands for mobiles and i-pods. The spoons and the forks have been joined together in the form of a two legged standing man like structure that is ready to hold your gadget obediently as you occupy yourself with other work.

The Recycled News Paper Bracelets have been created to help the victims of the Haiti earthquakes. These bracelets have been designed so that the proceeds go to charity for all the earthquake victims in Haiti. This is an initiative called the ‘Choose Haiti’ initiative which also points out towards the excellent sculpture of beautiful bracelets which have been made out of newspapers which would have gone to waste. These bracelets’ designs and manufacture has been backed by the likes of Bill Clinton.

This is a recycled chopstick that has especially been made for all those who love Chinese food. The Carry On Chopsticks have been created out of recycled baseball bat wood. These chopsticks have been created using the thrown away bats which the players do not need and all the wood that is left is utilized in making of these chopsticks. Consider how many pairs of chopsticks can be made out of a baseball bat. The makers had the forethought to look for the raw material here rather than get trees felled. 

Designer Jo Furlong has made a movie theater that is a pinnacle in movie viewing completely natural way. There is no usage of electricity from the conventional power source. Instead the Sol Cinema uses solar panels to charge the lithium ion batteries that run this little theater. The artist has made this micro theater using two recycled caravan berths. This is one of the most unique ways to depict how much electricity can be saved if we use the resources around us carefully.

For our first blog headline, we thought we'd borrow this intriguing phrase from Frank Russell, one of our main showcase artists. Frank estimates that he has personally managed to recycle at least 10 tons of materials over his career into his sea creature sculptures. When you think about the sheer number of other artists out there working with reclaimed materials, the positive environmental impact alone of recycled art must be quite significant. Our blog looks to celebrate some of the highly creative ways that talented artists are re-purposing discarded objects and everyday junk. We hope you'll find the artists, their work and the world of recycled art as inspiring as we do.

To finish on yet another quote from our friend Frank:

"Rediscovery, rethinking and repurposing of cast-off, casual materials is the art of this century. Our fellow artists work seeks to illuminate that path to perhaps a saner world.."

Thanks Frank... for all the fish.