I’ve been looking at the use of recycled, found and bodily-made materials in contemporary art and found some interesting artists who push their practices way beyond the limits of their materials.
From re-cycled toilet roll cylinders, organic objects and waste to bodily fluid and excrement, these artists all make some form of social statement in their individual works. Each work appears to push beyond the boundary of its initial concept as it raises questions about how we feel about issues such as body waste, rotting food and bodily fluids.
Adrian Villar Rojas, The Theater of Disappearance, 2018. Kept in refrigerated cases, the organic matter becomes locked temporarily in time with the natural decaying processes slowed down.
Anastassia Elias, project with WaterAid overflowing cities, 2016. The work illustrates how many countries have lack of toilet facilities and sanitation and the use of the toilet roll cylinder emphasises a basic item that some people don’t have access to.Andres Serrano, shit: series of sculptures, 2008. Using animal excrement, these sculptures have a visceral quality to them and raises the question about how a viewer reacts to this type of material.Mark Bradley Johnson, take this sperm and be free of me, 2013. This work was created by the artist’s own semen and he planned to allow visitor to take a vial home with them, sparking a health and safety concern and questioning what material is considered safe for the general public to have direct access to.
