Repurposing as a Practice
Renew. Restore. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. And there’s a bajillion more words with the prefix re (this blog included). Its Latin origin means “again”, or my preferred definition, “again and again”. Because, ya’ know, more is more. My favorite re prefixed word, and the one I put into practice the most in my every day life, is repurpose. This past week I’ve been thinking about its genesis in my life. I count ancestry and my artistic sensibility as the two biggest influencers on my propensity to repurpose.
I first ventured into repurposing when, as a twenty-something, I shared an apartment with my younger sister in Queens. The gateway to repurposing is first found in reuse. It was a ten-block walk to get to the subway where we lived. I routinely came across fabulous treasures people had disposed of on the sidewalks by way of garbage pickup day. Its the old adage of one’s person’s trash is another person’s treasure. With little resources and an eye for good design, on more than one occasion I asked a boyfriend, or my younger sister, to help carry home someone else’s castoff. They might have seen it as refuse, but I saw it as useful. A little elbow grease, some paint, there’s nothing I couldn’t funkify to fit in with our very nineties apartment décor.
But how did I learn that it was acceptable to be so brazen? To rescue an inanimate object minding its own business sitting on the sidewalk? Well, by New York City standards anyway, this isn’t so shocking. Its almost a necessary survival skill, standard operating procedure. But, as I dug a little deeper in my memory I thought of the first person I ever knew who did the same and practiced repurposing in their daily life. It was my grandmother. A Sicilian immigrant, she knew how to stretch a dollar and make use of everything. Nothing went to waste in her presence. She regularly made good use of all sorts of seemingly “one time use” goods that came her way. For me she was the first person who modeled what good garbage was all about.
In my early twenties I took a 3-Dimensional Design Class led by Art Professor Jolyon Hofsted at Queens College. He was a brilliant ceramicist and sculptor who instructed us to see the visual appeal in objects all around us, not just artwork that was already framed and hanging on a wall. He encouraged us to stop, walk around everything, and see it from its many vantage points. Negative space is as important as positive space is another Jolyon Hofsted tenet. Suffice it to say I didn’t just learn about creating three-dimensional art in his class.
I learned to look. At everything. One of our projects was to create a sculpture using plaster with found objects. Back in those days I used to walk the few blocks from my dad’s house to attend classes at Queens College. One day I came across a box fan that someone was throwing out. As I looked at it I saw how dynamic it could be if I removed the blades from their harness and repositioned them in a new arrangement. His instruction, more than any other art class, taught me to break things down to their foundation and see the elements comprising the whole. Once you’ve got that skill down you are poised to reimagine it. Mr. Hofsted’s instruction transferred to the art of repurposing for me.
Over the years I’ve developed a sort of hit list of materials I collect after their “use” has seemingly come to a close. When a year has ended I don’t throw away wall hanging calendars, I save them. Especially if they have pretty pictures. I can use florals and striking images for collage, decoupage, or even just as a sturdy backing to create art. Individual applesauce containers are the perfect water receptacle to rinse brushes when painting. The same with pretty glass yogurt containers. There’s an infinite assortment of household materials that are typically discarded that can be re-used in art-making.
By far my most favorite item to hold onto and re-purpose are candle jars. I select them not only for their scent, but also for the aesthetic value of the vessel housing them. I’ve used them as a vase, planter, to house ponytail hair ties, to store make-up, and to containerize seashells. I’m certain there’s an endless list of new purposes to imagine for their use. And if you enjoy going down rabbit holes just search Pinterest. There’s an inspiration board for everything there. Except I sort of view that as cheating, taking the easy way out.
Its a much better use of my creativity and inventiveness if I come up with a new purpose myself. Its like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it becomes. Like Martha Stewart would say, it’s a good thing.
