When California artist Aaron Kramer was a child, he
lived for Thursday nights. That's when neighbors would
begin to set out their trash for early morning pickup.
Kramer would cruise the neighborhood on his skate-
board looking for great trash to play with. Now, nearly
30 years later, Kramer is still not afraid to crawl into a
trash dumpster in search of just the right "treasure" for
his recycled, reclaimed and repurposed art.
His motto: "Trash is the failure of imagination."
Kramer is an individual concerned about the future of
the planet, for his children's sake and the sake of others,
but that's not his first concern or motivation when creat-
ing art from recycled materials.
"When someone looks at one of my creations, I want
them first to be filled with wonder and awe," said the
Venice Beach resident. "Then, if they are intrigued and
impressed with the materials, that's just a bonus."
Although Kramer has been working with recycled or
"found" materials for his entire creative life, the
concept of green art or environmental art is finally
very fashionable. Architects, designers and the hos-
pitality industry around the world are clamoring
for products touted as environmentally friendly.
Bernadette Upton, an interior designer in North
Palm Beach, Florida, is owner of Eco-Design, which
specializes in green, healthy homes. She's been working
in this niche since 1982.
"Just in the last three years, recycled art has become
highly chic, but in the last year, the demand has exploded
almost uncontrollably," Upton said. "The release of Al
Gore's An Inconvenient Truth is one of many things that
have people talking, and when they become more
informed they become more interested in partaking in
environmental initiatives in all parts of their lives."
Artists are responsible for an increased demand for the
medium, according to Kent Epler, one of two artisans with
The Laughing Boy in Missoula, Montana.
"In the early days of recycled art,
many of the products really looked
more like refugees from a garbage
can than serious art someone
would use or display in their
home," Epler said.
"But I think we've grown
up in recent years and
learned how better to use
reclaimed products for artis-
tic and practical purposes."
16
The Crafts Report · June 2007
CRAFT
TRENDS
by Diana Lambdin Meyer
Aaron Kramer, Black
Hole. 16" x 16" x
20". Woven recy-
cled street sweeper
bristles over a
welded armature.
Transmission clutch
plate opening. Steel
wire outside.
Aaron Kramer, Half and Half,
2006. 24" h x 9" d. Inside is a
trapped 2.5" stamp ball.