Art

Every five minutes two million plastic beverage bottles are used in the United States. Five minutes; that’s all it takes for a nation to create this mass of waste.

426,000. That’s the number of cell phones retired in the US everyday. Now how many of these phones do you believe are disposed of properly, or even recycled?

These statistics are alarming to hear, but the reality is often hard to bear without visualizing the extent of these issues. Thanks to Chris Jordan of Chris Jordan’s Photographic Arts, we can do just that – visualize. In his collection, Running the Numbers, Jordan turns raw statistics like these into stunning pieces of artwork, each one a poignant social commentary regarding our penchant for consumption.

Back in 2007, Artist Guillermo Vargas caused a violent outburst of protest on the internet when he used a starving dog off the street as an object of artwork. Apparently, he tied up the emaciated dog, placed bowls of food just out of its reach, and allowed the public to come in and view the slowly dying animal as "art."

Making art out of junk mail? It may sound like a strange premise, but Sandy Schimmel of Schimmel Art does just that. With her collection of portraits constructed from materials like newspaper ads, greeting cards, and even junk mail, Schimmel turns trash into treasure.

Just looking at her cutting edge artworks, it’s hard to believe that such beauty came from everyday objects.

“I am a rabid recycler,” She admits in the artist’s statement on her site. “I’m compelled to utilize unusual resources to create my art.”