Artistic Recycling: Metal
This is my fifth article on artistic recycling. These articles all involve making something worthless into something priceless. It takes a lot of skill to take our cast-offs and see them from a different angle — on of an artistic medium. Thinking what can be made of this instead of how can I get rid of this. In this article, I highlight an artist named John T. Unger and his incredible uses of scrap metal.
John T. Unger says that his mandate is “sustainable design with an edge”. In order to compete with in the global marketplace, green design has to be cooler, sleeker, and better than new. He scours scrap yards for discarded car metal, propane and oxygen tanks, radiators, and metal of any kind. He transforms these bits and pieces into genuine works of art. This artwork is also often very functional, serving a varied array of purposes from grills to gates to signs to fire pits. Another great aspect of his work is the permanence of his design. These pieces are meant to withstand the years with little to no maintenance even if left outdoors. In fact, the outdoor metal art work will develop a patina of rust over time, adding to the beauty of the design.
He offers many items for sale on his website www.johntunger.com and will also do commission work upon request. In some circumstances, he partners with his daughter Mya to design and make some of his most eye catching pieces. It seems as though this artistic ingenuity and love for the planet has been passed down into another generation!
This grate can be used as security bars on basement windows to beautify the home instead of putting what looks like “jail bars” on them. These grates bring grace and beauty instead of highlighting the security risk that basement windows sometimes have. It is made from 100% recycled or reused metal and is reminiscent of a pair of shutters in the closed position.
This beautiful Macintosh garden screen would look beautiful with plants climbing up the trellises, sweet peas blooming on it in the summer. Or they could be used as fence partitions beautifully setting garden areas apart from each other. The beauty and simplicity of the lines on this screen make it appear deceptively geometric.
This gate is called the “Devil in the Jungle” gate. The use of “found” art metal pieces along with the straight lines make up a wonderful composition. The rusty patina adds colour and texture to the piece and also beckons back to its name of devil in the jungle. One of the pieces looks like a devil’s pointed tail, while along looks like an exotic leaf structure which could only be found in the deepest, darkest jungle.
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I loved your plasma cuts !~)
would you have patterns to share or could you let me know where I could find some?
Thank you kindly….
You can find more of Paula’s writing highlighting environmentally friendly products, services, innovations and issues at her new blog Green Colored Glasses.
Living green doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive.
