5 things you probably didn't know could be made into art
Antje Binder / rbMarch 3, 2017
Some artists have taken art and recycling to a whole new level. They are working with materials that at first glance don't have much to do with creativity, like pencil lead and even chewing gum.
Image: Fotolia
Advertisement
5 things you probably didn't know you could be made into art
Some artists have taken art and recycling to a whole new level. They are working with materials that at first glance don't have much to do with creativity, like pencil lead and even chewing gum.
Image: DW
Legos
Jan Vormann from Bamberg is traveling around the world with a bag of colorful toy blocks, looking for holes in walls or facades. Whenever he finds some, he starts repairing them with Legos, creating a work of art. Vormann has already traveled far with his bag of Lego blocks, including to the US and Mexico.
Image: picture alliance/PIXSELL/S. Strukic
Adhesive tape
It's only when light shines on the creations by Dutch artist Max Zorn that his work becomes visible. Layer by layer, Zorn creates pictures on glass by applying strips of tape. Zorn started off as a street artist in his hometown of Amsterdam. Nowadays, he sells his artwork for up to several thousand euros.
Image: maxzorn.com
Food
It might not look like it, but everything in this picture is edible. Food inspires the imagination of British artist Carl Warner. Initially, the London artist created the images just for fun. Now he makes his incredible landscapes for advertising agencies.
Image: Carl Warner
Pencil lead
Pencil lead is less than a millimeter in diameter, but even that can be turned into art. Graphite is particularly suitable for carving. The sculptor Rangna Reusch-Klinkenberg carves miniature busts of famous politicians. This one of former US President Barack Obama was made as a promotional campaign for the political magazine "Cicero."
Image: Serviceplan Gruppe
Chewing gum
"Almost as good as clay," says Italian artist Maurizio Savini of his favorite material, which he's been working with for more than 10 years. The political and socially critical sculptures he makes out of chewing gum can be seen in galleries around the world and are in great demand. This sculpture of the mythical Roman she-wolf "La Lupa" made out of 14 kilograms of gum and sold for 28,000 euros.
Image: DW
5 images1 | 5
Anything can be art, no mater how bizarre it is. The Briton Damien Hirst, for example, knows how to create art from the most remarkable things. He once decorated a human skull with diamonds and exhibited it.
The German-Swiss artist Meret Oppenheim was once celebrated for a fur-trimmed cup. Regarding material in art, there is a complete liberty. That also goes for the lesser-known Italian artist Maurizio Savini.
Art made of chewing gum
Savini's sculptures are formed out of a material that is usually found on sidewalks, if not in your mouth: chewing gum. He needs an average of 10 kilograms (around 22 pounds) for his sculptures, which can easily mean thousands of pieces of gum.
But Savini doesn't chew all of them himself. Instead, two assistants unpack the gum, heat the pieces with a hair dryer and knead them into a mass. The artist sticks them on a plaster base.
Savini has been working with the material for more than 10 years, and it has a special cultural significance for him. He sees chewing gum as a symbol of economic growth in post-war Europe and the perfect material to exert social criticism. He also loves to use the particularly artificial color pink.
Difficult material
The high amount of sugar in chewing gum is a challenge for Savini. His first sculptures fell apart after three months because the sugar destroyed the base, and he had to pay back all the money to the buyers.
But Savini has learned from that experience. Now, he preserves his work with aldehyde and antibiotics, but the precise varieties remain his secret.
Have a look at other artists working with unusual materials in the picture gallery above.
