sundance

Upcycling a billboard into a bag: Relan

Vinyl, aka PVC, is everywhere… and, as we’ve noted before (and as the film BLUE VINYL argued), it’s pretty nasty stuff. The best thing we could do is to stop making and using it, and substitute more environmentally benign materials. Second best… make use of all that vinyl that often goes to landfills.

Vinyl from the grave

Gays have always had a thing for records. Perhaps this goes back to the disco era I guess when gays escaped into clubs to dance to black women screaming to electro-beats. Gays, too, have always been more likely to embrace dj-culture. We like dance music. We like dancing. Rock’s always been a bit too machismo for some of us.

What do you do with a public art display when it comes down?

For New York City-based artist Amy Wilson, the answer to that question was recycle it… into something useful that she could sell.

Wilson was one artist of many participating in the Downtown Alliance’s Re:Construction public art program, which “[recast] construction sites as canvasses for innovative public art and architecture.” Her work, It Takes Time to Turn a Space Around, was located at West Thames Park, and consisted of a 130′ x 5′ digital print on vinyl of original watercolor (her primary medium).

Vinyl fish street art

If you have tons of old useless vinyl records lying around and aren’t sure what to do with them, then look at this find by Wooster Collective for inspiration. It’s a fish whose body is made of vinyl albums.