If all thrown on uselessness things could talk, they'd love to tell how happy to have found a second life and can again delight us with his presence. However, if you look at the elegant dragonfly collected from twigs of old shopping carts, or the majestic eagle hoods of car wheels, everything is becoming clear. In vain we throw away so much unnecessary-necessary things! Incidentally, in the English town of Brighton have long understood and hard to help local magician Ptolemy Elrington (Ptolemy Elrington) to create from any metal and plastic waste real masterpieces of art.
What is creativity and how to live with him, Ptolemy grasped in his childhood. That only is it an unusual name - Ptolemy Elrington, Charles Peter, because that had to go through many adventures at school. Parents, being creative people, not only in the country "imenivydumyvaniya" (father - actor and theater director, his mother - a housewife, passionately fond of painting), taught their offspring in every possible way to find the internal talent and encouraged any imaginative impulses. So, armed with the slogan "always do what you like, not what we need," Ptolemy enrolled in a more or Divine College in Lincoln, where he received a basic knowledge of sculpture, woodcarving, working with clay and wire.
The innovative artistic taste manifested already in Bredfordskom College, where inquisitive young man post-drinking, in order to further explore the foundations of art and design. So, no matter what experienced teachers, no matter what the truth is not proclaimed, Elrington politely agreed with everything-hsia, but ... did everything his own way. And, finally, completely disillusioned with the art environment, where all sorts of artistic trends were imposed and a marketing ploy for financial gain, Ptolemy, a diploma, "fired" himself from the world of art. For several years he worked part time seasonal work: a carpenter, roofer then, the driver.
Thus began the first artistic experiments with debris, in particular, thrown caps for automobile wheels.
Passion to master the inhabitants of the sea floor - a special theme. First, the metal caps on their characteristics were an ideal way construction-Ktorov to build wonderful fish. Secondly, in order to properly convey the character conceived the character, "Iron Merlin" sits for hours in the library or sent to the Brighton Aquarium to see how water moves in a shark or torpedo.
A good turn
Of course, do not notice a huge mountain of old car hoods and the fact that one turns out, it was difficult. Therefore, it is a fascinating hobby soon turned into a good business. The main customers of steel bars, hotels, shops, car dealers, whose owners appreciate innovative "resurrected" piece of iron. Thus, in the lobby of Brighton pub The Hop-Poles lived a colorful crocodile on the ceiling and spread the tentacles of a giant octopus iron. Restaurant The Eagle has ordered a sculpture of an eagle, in the office of Adams & Webb showroom in North London umostilsya imposing dragon. Those visitors who were delighted with this stainless livestock, hastened to communicate with their author, and himself to order an unusual "garbage" copy.
First, the square shape mesh carts and bars depressed Ptolemy. But have the hell of a lot of trouble with the new material and mastered the special welding system, quick-witted Englishman built a remarkably elegant installation of ten things: heron, grasshopper, frog, water rats and other residents of Brighton gasped in surprise, seeing as reincarnated ordinary car, they push each day in a supermarket. Organising Company has received several awards for holding such artistic action, and the "iron master" - press attention and new orders. By the way, the average price of a sculpture made of car hoods today range from GBP120 to GBP600. More complex work costing customers GBP1 ,5-2, 5 thousand
Recycle transformation
E steticheskaya value and expressive means of waste were discovered in the early twentieth century. Thus, the Dadaist Kurt Schwitters collages were full of various "fragments of reality": tram tickets, scraps of posters, caps on the cans, ropes. Theme collection developed and many representatives of Pop Art (Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg and others).
Unique sculptures made of dust, lint, scraps of wool, hair, cherry stones and twigs constructs British monumentalistka Rebecca Warren. Such ingenuity has brought her worldwide fame and a nomination for the Turner Prize (GBP25 thousands) - the most prestigious awards in the world of fine arts and monumental UK.
In contrast to the average man, the artist's eye sees beautiful, even in the fetid slums and the city dump. Ptolemy Elrington is why instead of a noble clay and watercolors selected regular trash?
- In the world there are a lot of rubbish. Why car hoods?
- I'm from the category of people who are always being dragged into the house where found some old audio system, lights, different iron-ki. Repair them, rework. If you see sticking out of a dumpster a couple of feet jerk - it's certainly mine (laughs). I always love to create out of his discoveries is something new. From automobile hoods, there was going to make armor. But it turned out that they make great sculptures of fish.
- And now it has become your specialty?
- In part, yes. I can make any animal, bird, insect, but eventually the fish look better. And the more I do, the more I drew the design process itself. After all, the end result, only 50% dependent on an original idea, all the rest - material properties: brilliant silver surface of the shell is perfect for creating scales.
- Where do you find so many caps?
- I started collecting them for more than six years ago, picked up on the way to work when he worked as a laborer. Besides, I always helped friends and family, so now I have a whole warehouse. Most striking strangers who decide to stop, pick up this iron trash and bring me knowing that I can use it. Every time that as a compliment and a confirmation of what I'm doing something worthwhile.
- Are not you embarrassed that it's not marble or watercolors, but an ordinary trash?
- All objects around us - are beautiful and valuable. But everyone refers to them subjectively. I often met with thrown objects, which makes much more sense than their "uselessness". For example, the hoods of cars are used only from an aesthetic purpose and become trash, as are on the edge of roads. But with a little effort and imagination I transform them into something that can again delight the human eye. In fact, my sculptures are trying to say about our wasteful society and prejudices regarding the value of things.
- What do you like most about your job?
- The process of creation! The way the original idea embodied in the design of the pieces, as you have to deal with the properties of the material, trying to follow the concept of form. Sometimes find that is not that what initially planned (once the fish has turned into a happy sperm, and the toad was incredible way an octopus). But most of all is fun attitude of those strangers who come to me from the road picked up caps and thought: "This is - not a piece of garbage is something that can be useful Ptolu."
