The Disposing of trash on our old planet Earth has become one of the most pressing problems that we face. The governments of developed countries spend billions of dollars on various recycling programs but it still seems like it’s not enough. The planet gets more and more polluted year after year with our trash. All of which represents the fruits of excessive consumerism.
You’ve heard the old expression «Necessity is the mother of invention»? Well there’s one man who has come up with a cheap and amazing way of getting rid of all this harmful rubbish.
You know how they say “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? It seems like Portuguese street artist Artur Bordalo (aka Bordalo II) took this adage literally and brought it to a brand new level.
Bordalo II uses waste materials such as scrap metal, garbage cans, beat-up bumpers, old tires and steering wheels to create impressive 3D murals on the walls of his own hometown.
Most of the statues depict animals and that’s for a reason, since all the animals are built from the materials that affected their endangered status. This serves as a constant reminder that our consumer society – our irresponsible behavior, if you will – causes dislocations and endangers all living creatures on our planet.
Artur Boradalo’s art creations are designed to raise social awareness on problems like global pollution caused by human waste. Without question our environment is affected by the misuse of resources. He seeks to help pole realize that if we destroy nature and if we don’t try to work harmoniously with nature the human race is doomed.
But along with this main message Bordalo’s statues highlight other problems of modern society. For example, this owl sculpture on a wall in the city Covilha, Portugal.
It’s called “Owl Eyes” and it’s made of different pieces of urban trash, such as corrugated sheet metal, old tires and metal scrap. The owl was created for the WOOL, an annual festival held in Covilha to foster the urban arts. There is a lot of ruins and abandoned buildings in the center of this city, so Bordalo decided to use all this trash and scrap to create an owl – the symbol of education and culture, the two things that are missing in this area.
Now see the other works of Bordalo II and try to guess what ideas they bear:
Meet Trasherpillar!
The birds predominate among Bordalo’s works.
And when we talk about garbage it’s impossible not to mention the raccoons.
In conclusion, let’s hope Bordalo’s message will reach its goal and the era of excessive consumerism will be over and humans will become responsible, respecting all the natural things that surround them.