Shopping Bag Art Green Column on John Dahlsen
In this throwaway culture too much of our manufactured waste has an embarrassingly short useful life. Take a trivial example: the simple coffee stirrer. The two seconds that it is used to stir up the sugar and cream follows weeks, perhaps months, of a production line that may cover hundreds of miles ending with a toss in the trash after the dissolving job is done. Magnify that image a thousand-fold for objects of greater size but often just as short a useful life span. The waste is staggering.
There is a segment of our artistic community that finds fulfillment in breaking that cycle: the found object artist-taking the trash and making it beautiful. Any form of art begins with raw elements with potential for expression, which are combined and shaped for a singular purpose.
Found object art starts with elements that have outlived their primary usefulness, often to the point of being totally unappealing.
John Dahlsen is an Australian found object sculptor.
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After a 1983 fire destroyed most of his work, he took time to reflect on his career. While searching a beach for driftwood, he discovered what would turn out to be his most intriguing form of working material. ??Appalled at the amount of trash he encountered, he gathered over eighty bags of washed up garbage, returned to his studio and began a new chapter in his career.
Dahlsen refers to his found object sculptures as “environmental art.” These pieces display a wide range of forms, such as ten foot totems made of old sandals or pieces of plastic detritus sorted by colour and shape mounted between sheets of Plexiglas.
One form that I find interesting are his series three-dimensional collages of recycled plastic bags, in which he displays an intriguing array of textures and colours. ??The work of John Dahlsen instills conflict in the viewer.
On the one hand, he manages to create something visually stimulating, while on the other, he forces the viewer to witness the reality of where the chosen medium comes from.
Dahlsen refers to his found object sculptures as “environmental art.” These pieces display a wide range of forms, such as ten foot totems made of old sandals or pieces of plastic detritus sorted by colour and shape mounted between sheets of Plexiglas. One form that I find interesting are his series three-dimensional collages of recycled plastic bags, in which he displays an intriguing array of textures and colours. ??The work of John Dahlsen instills conflict in the viewer. On the one hand, he manages to create something visually stimulating, while on the other, he forces the viewer to witness the reality of where the chosen medium comes from.? “This is my way of making a difference, and at the same time I’m sharing a positive message about beauty that can be gained from the aesthetic experience of appreciating art, as well as giving examples of how we can recycle and reuse in creative ways.
These artworks exemplify my commitment as an artist to express contemporary social and environmental concerns. By presenting this art to the public it will hopefully have people thinking about the deeper meaning of the work, in particular the environmental issues we currently face.” ??I think of John Dahlsen whenever I see those ubiquitous blue plastic shopping bags gracing our gutters and wafting into treetops. Sadly, there are not enough like him with the time, energy and talent to collect all this trash and turn it into something more appealing.?? The litter problem is causing more state and local governments to take on the question of taxing plastic shopping bags, though with mixed results.
The Baltimore City Council last month declined to adopt a measure that would impose a 25 cents tax on each plastic shopping bag, citing merchants’ concerns over inconveniencing shoppers. Last year the Seattle City Council approved a 20 cents fee on each disposable paper and plastic bag dispensed at drug stores, grocery stores and convenience stores, but the matter goes to a general voter referendum later this month.?? Some predict that, even though the citizens of Seattle are exemplary in their sensitivity to matters green, the ordinance will be rejected.
Aside from the convenience issue, there is some evidence that re-usable shopping bags would have to be re-used over 300 times in order to offset the additional energy needed to make them, as compared with the disposable variety. ??Nothing is simple. As we edge closer to taxing or outright outlawing out of existence plastic shopping bags, we may deprive at least one found object artist a medium for artistic expression. That’s a trade off of which John Dahlsen would approve.
John P. (Jack) Machen is a real estate attorney in the Baltimore office of DLA Piper LLP (US), a global law firm with over 3,500 lawyers in 28 countries. In addition to his law practice, Mr. Machen is certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as a LEED Accredited Professional and provides advice to his firm and to clients on green building, green building codes, sustainability and resource conservation.
