During the 20th century, modern artists stood against the traditional materials that the artist used in fine art, such as stone, metal, and clay to make sculptures, or brushes, paints, or arty materials to paint on the canvas. However, these traditional materials were so cliche for the artists, therefore, they thought that “art” can be made from anything random, which widens the range of unusual objects and materials. Some artists were creating the artwork with cloth rags, scrap metal, broken-up machinery, timber, and wastepaper, etc. This artwork was created with the materials that humans dump in the garbage, also known as “Junks”

These actions are to eliminate the idea of waste. Artists consider waste to be a resource for the artwork and think that everything people throw away every day can have a second life. The beginnings of the use of waste in art were from “Ready-made” & Dada, which emerged in France in the early 20th century. A few years later, Pablo Picasso used manufactured objects in his work, such as a bicycle seat and handlebars, to create the sculpture.

These ‘junk art’ continuously followed the trend, leading to the use of waste in art reflects the evolution of society and art. Artists began to produce their inspiration from more trivial sources such as waste and discarded objects, free from the obligation to represent noble subjects: portrait, religion, mythology, and landscape.   

In figure 1.1, it is one of the examples in the sixties, when the expansion of the society of consumption inspired Arman, a famous American artist. He aggregated trash in airtight glass boxes and named this artwork [Accumulations]. By including discarded items in his work, the artist highlights a society in which everything is disposable after a single-use.

These prosocial actions shown by art are unique and are continuing until now. “We” nowadays might not notice that we are harming the environment in our daily lives; however, to save our environment, we should try and make something out of the garbage we throw away like Arman.

송혜윤 강남포스트 학생기자  webmaster@ignnews.kr

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