SEEING…….
Seeing the world through the eyes of an artist, whether they be architect, painter, musician or dancer can sometimes help us appreciate the planet we live on a little more. This month we are featuring people and places that help us escape the city walls for a little, or in this case a lot, of nature (read more), inspire us to think of new ways to reuse the energy we create (read more) and take a look and art that teaches us to tidy up after ourselves…..
THE ART OF CLEANING
When is art, art? When is sustainability sustainable? And most of all when is something green really ever green?
There are very few people in the world making our environment better without adding to the damage that we have already done to them. Few organisations can claim that they are creating something for everyone without the added negatives. Most companies that try and create sustainable products still need to offset their carbon, but carbon offsetting is only offsetting, and the carbon produced by these companies must go somewhere.
I have however found one group that seems to be able to say they really do not pollute our planet in their endeavours to create something for everyone. Symbollix are a group of ‘grime writers and purveyors of inventive finery’; their medium: dirt. Their aim is ‘to create solutions for people who want to get their message across without doing anymore damage to their environments, wherever they may be in the world.’
The founder, British artist Paul Curtis, aka Moose, selectively creates art from the nation’s daily grime. With a belief in ‘clean tagging’ Moose has worked on several major guerilla style marketing campaigns for global companies including Crisis, Greenpeace and Water Aid.
Quoted as saying “It’s refacing not defacing. Just restoring a surface to its original state,” Curtis has been arrested for graffiti, but not charged. It’s hard to charge someone for cleaning - there doesn’t seem to be a law against it.
It is funny how people react to things that are less than conventional. Symbollix, in my opinion, create something exciting for many reasons. Not only is the ethos behind the work relevant to the state of the world today, but the simplicity of the idea is a gentle reminder to us all that we can all do things to improve our environment in clever and conscious way. Create something from nothing, using what we have, what exists, rather than creating something to replace it.
Symbollix is a great example for all of us. A little creativity around our own homes can be free and help clean our environment. Next time you have a dirty car, try cleaning just a bit of it and create your own little piece of environmentally friendly art!
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Credit: Chris Brandon
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