A lot of
sculpture today is a direct result of the environmental problem of
garbage. Artists are using all sorts of odd, free, garbage
materials. Old rakes, saws, nuts and bolts (practically any
machinery parts ), plastics of all kinds, anything and everything
can, and will be used.
The talent comes in turning this garbage into a work of art, where
we no longer fixate on the old shoe, rope, or flywheel. The junk is
lost, transformed into a bird or a goat. Once again, Picasso was to
lead the way with his wonderful sculptures such as "Girl Jumping
Rope", and "Baboon and Young". One gets the idea that he used these
materials out of necessity, just as a child or a bushman would,
rather than for the purposes of `garbage recycling'. I can imagine
him collecting stuff as valuable future art supplies, or simply
spotting it, and seeing that it fit the purposes he required at the
time, using it without hesitation.
Some of my own sculptures: "Decoy the Sitting Duck", "Lady Peatalk",
"Bowl Full of Birds", and so on, are a direct result of the need to
use up scrap drawings and paintings. This led to the use of other
junk, such as bleach bottles and Styrofoam packaging.
