In this installment of This Re-Usable Life, we go to Australia, where Ruby has never been in person, to discover how the folks down under do recycled art:

part one: what can you do with a can? Sir Reginald Junksworth III, aka JUNKY

part two: John Dahlsen, the darling of the international recycled art movement

part three: Evelyn Roth’s recycled and wearable art installations

part one: ODD has mentioned Junky before, but now that Wooster Collective spotted his recycled street art, we thought he deserved another shout out. Junky is an enigmatic street art avenger who creates creatures from the debris of society, then resurrects them onto wooden telegraph poles and other forgotten places around Australia. He uses cans and sometimes plastic bottles to make forlorn-looking neo-folk art with a punk rock attitude.

part two: John Dahlsen collects the flotsam and jetsam that washes up on beaches to do environmental art, recycled art, assemblage art, contemporary paintings, sculptures, installation and public art that has an abstract and conceptual quality to it. We find his totems made from flip flops particularly compelling, and are intrigued by his plastic bag installations. Dahlsen’s work legitimizes the use of recycled materials as high art while still retaining an earnest ecological message.

part three: Evelyn Roth’s work is where high fashion, high craft, high art and edutainment all meet to create performance art events that are spectacularly beautiful and fun! A Pacific Northwest expatriate, Roth’s Meeting Place/Spirit House dance/theater celebration makes me wish I had gone to Expo in 1986 to experience the spectacle of her inflatable, interactive sculpture. Her award-winning wearable art is wonderful, too. Evelyn turned me on to WOW (World of WearableArt, where art and the human form combine), which is held in New Zealand (not Australia, but close enough).

ps back in the Pacific Northwest, you can read about ODD George Kurzman’s Seattle recycled art show in April’s Art Access