Reverse Garbage-Artist is Residence

The  last eight months have been busy busy busy. I am currently Artist in Residence at Reverse Garbage. I have been working with the amazing staff at Reverse Garbage to return a shipping container to it's former glory as a gallery space. Half of the container is now studio space for the Artist Residency.

One of the difficulties of forging a career as a visual artist is finding gallery space to exhibit work. With some galleries taking +40% commission and high production and exhibition costs, it is hardly surprising that many artists opt for more secure employment. 

This residency is allowing me space to work and to exhibit.

One project I have been working on is "The 1000 Year Garden". It was inspired by 'Bloomin Rubbish', a pop up recycling project originally devised by Deidre Nelson and Frances Priest in association with Cove Park, Scotland.

You can see lovely examples of the project here on Frances Priest's website. http://www.francespriest.co.uk/work/education/bloomin-rubbish.html

"The 1000 Year Garden" is made entirely of plastic.  It is a work in progress with new plantings every few weeks.



Why call it The 1000 Year Garden? Plastic can take 500-1000 years to decompose. The garden has been getting quite a bit of attention from visitors. It always makes me smile to see people taking photographs. I hope they are inspired to create a garden at home or at work.

Recently the garden has become part of the warehouse tour  for school groups attending workshops at Reverse Garbage. The students love to touch the blooms and always have lots of questions.

Who or What is Reverse Garbage I hear you say:
Reverse Garbage is committed to diverting resources from landfill – each year we accept approximately 35,000 cubic metres or 100 football fields of items which may otherwise end up in the bin.Reverse Garbage was established in 1974 by a group of teachers who were determined to help  the environment by diverting industrial discards from landfill and by reusing materials in their classrooms.40 years later, Reverse Garbage is now an internationally recognised, award-winning environmental co-operative committed to promoting sustainability through the reuse of resources available at its Marrickville warehouse, as well as providing support to other community, creative and educational organisations. This support is often in the form of donated materials, service-in-kind or small financial sponsorship.
The Crew at Reverse Garbage are a wonderful group of people dedicated to sustainability. The warehouse is a cornucopia of reuse materials.


BILLS TO PAY

When I am not in the studio or wrangling the Ninja Monkey I work as a casual workshop facilitator at Reverse Garbage. This has been a great opportunity for me to put my teaching experience to good use and to focus on my passion for sustainability education. I have also been able to use my curriculum and syllabus design experience thanks to Reverse Garbage Education Coordinator, Rachel Rothwell.

Kinetic Creations -holiday workshop

Alien Invasion - holiday workshop
Big Box City- primary school workshop
Bespoke high school workshop
        NO GLUE
     NO STICKY TAPE
     NO STAPLES
Shelter Shelter - primary school workshop

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