SO!  Olympia Dumpster Divers turned 9 years old this week; the official start date of this blog was July 13, which just happens to be our friend Marita’s birthday.  Marita Dingus remains the Queen of Art from Recycled Materials here in the Pacific Northwest, where she continues to exhilarate us with her unique ways of making art with the stuff other folks throw away.

Ruby’s surplus venetian blind slats are incorporated into Marita’s latest project

Marita is also a docent for the Seattle Art Museum, currently leading tours of the Disguise: Masks and Global African Art exhibit.  This past Wednesday, Ruby, along with artist Kelly Lyles, had the privilege of being part of the public tour lead by Marita, which was an insightful and informative experience, since Marita is truly passionate about art and Africa. Unbeknownst to us all, there was another interesting artist in this tour — Kelly found out later when she attended his lecture at SAM that evening and recognized Joshua Sofaer as the Englishman who was asking questions during the tour that afternoon. Ruby totally regrets not being able to attend his talk, but is excited to learn more about his work.

work-in-progress: chicken coop with spheres by Marita Dingus

Joshua Sofaer is a UK based artist involved in socially engaged art that includes elements of performance, collaboration, and public participation, often with an irreverent sense of humor.  He was in town to speak about his recent project, “The Rubbish Collection,” a one month long exhibit/exploration of the quantity, quality, and aesthetics of what was discarded by the Science Museum of London, questioning what we throw away verses what we keep.

The Rubbish Collection, Phase 1: Documentation by Joshua Sofaer

 

“I want to use art to enable people to see the world as a place of potentiality and to become more active citizens.”         Joshua Sofaer

We look forward to reading more about Joshua Sofaer (and hope that our paths will cross again someday), seeing Marita Dingus’ next installation, (which will be at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art — stay tuned),  and, of course, posting more often about Ruby Re-Usable’s art from recycled materials and the myriad of art and artists that inspire Olympia Dumpster Divers to MAKE ART NOT WASTE!