An amazing use of discarded materials.....a different perspective on art!!!!

In keeping with today’s topic which I seem to be very taken up with, I came across some more installation works online by contemporary artists, who stretch the boundaries of their creativity.


One such artist, is the Indiana based Japanese artist Sayaka Ganz, a young girl who creates sculptures & artworks using discarded & used materials like plastic, metals & utensils like spoons & forks. These sculptures are not randomnly done but depict forms, mostly animals in various stages of movements, giving you the feeling of them being alive…

As the artist says, the used materials because of the human story behind them, have a life of their own & transcend their origins by being integrated into an animal form. She also goes to say that by creating the sculptures, it is her way to depict that even though there is a whole lot of conflict all round, all of the pieces fit together to form a cohesive whole, that every person will eventually find some place to belong to even if they aren’t sure when.

The sculptures are beautiful & being made with pre-defined forms gives them a uniqueness that is hard to define. What a depth of thinking & creativity for someone so young of age!!

More images of her works can be found at her website: www.sayakaganz.com

ANDREA Air Filter ..........an eco-friendly & cost-effective design concept!!!!

If one just attempts to use his imagination, anything can be made possible!!!! This is amply demonstrated in the ANDREA Air Filter which is not only an amazing design concept but is also eco-friendly....

The ANDREA Air Filter which is currently sold in the US, uses household plants as natural indoor air cleaners thus ridding air of toxins & pollutants. It was invented by the French designer, Mathieu Lehanneur in collaboration with Harvard professor David Edward.

The Air filter is 40 times more effecient than activated carbon filters & requires no filter changes. It works on a very simple procedure, purifying air by forcefully drawing it into a noiseless fan to propel it through the roots & leaves of plants, then out through water & once it is soil filtered, the air is sent back to the atmosphere. The process uses the plant's natural metabolic activity to transform the waste biochemically, thus eliminating pollution. Also any household plants like Alo Vera, spider plant etc can be used for their ability to absorb & metabolise toxins.

In our quest for growth, we seem to have ignored the side & after-effects of human intervention & have to contend with various accompanying hazards. Lets hope, products like the above help reduce our carbon footprint to some extent atleast!!!!

The folding bamboo house.....a creative & eco-friendly architectural design initiative!!!

As the name suggests, these houses inspired by the art of origami are created from bamboo & are intended to be used as a temporary shelter in the aftermath of an earthquake. They are elegant & beautiful & are the brainchild of Ming Tang, an architectural designer who has designed them making use of renewable materials.

Ming Tang came up with this idea after a magnitude of 7.9 earthquake struck central China in May 2009 killing nearly 69,000 people. On learning that the Chinese Government planned to create about 1 million temporary homes, he designed a shelter that was cheap, easily produced & environment friendly & at the same time which can be folded into a variety of structurally sound shapes.

Going by the design of the house, Ming aims to have achieved what he set out to do thus creating houses that are dynamic & easily adaptable to different situations.

The concept utilises bamboo poles which are pre-assembled into rigid geometric shapes. This geometry provides each structure's integrity thus allowing a range of lightweight modular structures to be quicky assembled depending on the need & transported to their final destination when required. Once constructed, the shelters are then covered using re-cycled paper making the whole process eco-friendly.

There is no doubt that such a product will have a huge impact both in terms of the environment & also considering the fact that earthquakes are no more a rarity in different parts of the world!!

Imagine creating furniture from live plants!!!

This is exactly what designer Asif Khan has done when challenged by the Design Museum in London to create something special using local plant life. He thus used the plant Gypsophila (commonly known as Baby's breath) which was allowed to bloom into something beautiful & aesthetic to sit on!!!!

The plant's natural ability to interlock, was taken advantage of & this enabled the designer to use it for his specific purpose. Once the plant was in bloom, it was harvested, woven & then placed into pre-designed molds to be freeze-dried over several weeks. After the subsequent hardening, each piece received a coating of linseed oil resin to lock its shape into place.

The artist called this series of furniture 'Harvest' & it not only makes use of unconventional materials but is also beautiful, harmonious & merges the interior with the exterior world.

By using this kind of furniture, it might help to relieve the guilt we feel when using wood from cut & felled trees. At the same time it also helps us give back something to nature in exchange for what we have taken from it!!!!