Tapestries of plastic waste in downtown LA
- lindsaytheirl
- Sep 19, 2019
- 1 min read
Updated: Nov 24, 2019
Recently I was driving to work and I was listening to KCRW when I heard this story. It is about an artist from Zimbabwe, Moffat Takadiwa, who collects and cleans trash sent to his country from America to make art that is both political, but also beautiful. I personally did not know we shipped garbage to this country, and I think it's important for more Americans to be aware of the environmental impact our trash has on the rest of the world. With the movement away from single-use plastics (ie. straws), I think an art exhibit like this could be really eye opening for some viewers, and is a less confrontational way of expressing the urgent need for better climate practices around the world.
After you look at the photos and listen to the segment, what is your immediate reaction? Would you know these sculptures were constructed from trash if you saw them? How do you feel about expressing issues such as these with such beautiful sculptures? Is that wise?
Note: Moffat Takadiwa’s exhibit, "Son of the Soil," is on display at the Nicodim Gallery in downtown LA until October 19th.
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Hi, I definitely would not know these were made from garbage on initial view. They are really beautiful though, and I wonder if art is a way to get people thinking about climate change and the way we abuse the earth! I don't know if it's wise, but it's interesting
Looking at the motive for these pieces, it reminds me of the artists that creates sculptures out of plastic sandals. While the mediums are different, it makes you really think about how much waste we produce and where that waste eventually goes. Some communities are based or built on getting rid of or sorting through trash and many people are unaware of that. Environmental artist are emerging more and more these days and its about time that changes are made before there is no going back.
At first glance, no one would think any of this is made of garbage. It is delicate and simple, the exact opposite of the waste that we and other countries export in an alarming amount. I was watching a documentary the other day about how poorer countries are often exploited and end up becoming receptacles for the developed world's plastic remnants. Moffat Takadiwa is making metaphorical lemonade with lemons his country never asked for.
My immediate responses is that these pieces are vivid and seem to possess a strange sort of character. I wouldn’t ordinarily assume that these pieces were made of trash or flotsam; but learning that they are only intensifies my admiration for the resourcefulness of whomever put it together. I think that expressing these sorts of issues through the prism/lens of art is not only wise, but essential - since it distills complex issues into something most (if not all) people can understand.
These are such pretty tapestries, it's so strange to think that something we usually think of as ugly and awful was turned into a beautiful artwork. I feel like people don't like to see the ugly truth of reality, so creating something people will be drawn to helps to still open the discussion of the reality below the surface. It also made me question - after we make an artwork and it's "lived out" its life, is it trash too? Since ultimately even though it's being used as an aesthetic piece now, it's still (typically) using up materials that can't be unused. I feel like this art collection does a great job of also implying the connectedness of trash and…