‘Earth Wear’ project repurposes trash into art for open-air display in North Boulder
By KALENE MCCORT | kmccort@prairiemountainmedia.com | Boulder Daily Camera
PUBLISHED: August 13, 2020 at 12:24 p.m. | UPDATED: August 13, 2020 at 12:39 p.m.
Chances are you’ve probably seen “yarn-bombing” — colorful crocheted creations wrapped around light poles, fences and even vehicles within cities, parks and residential communities.
Angie Eng, director of Creative Catalyzers, prepares to adorn a tree with a wrap made from repurposed tote bags on Aug. 8. “Earth Wear,” an open-air art display on the northwest corner of Iris and 26th Street in Boulder will be up through Aug. 30. Phase two of the project will appear in Boulder’s Central Park in May 2021. (Chris Carruth/ Courtesy photo)
Inspired by the vibrant and textured “graffiti knitting,” director of Boulder-based nonprofit Creative Catalyzers, Angie Eng, has organized “Earth Wear,” a community public art installation. The outdoor exhibit, located on the northwest corner of Iris and 26th Street in Boulder, features repurposed trash and recycled items assembled into quilt-like banners, displayed on the trunks of a trio of trees.
“I asked every person I knew to save their plastic caps, CDs, cassette tapes, bread ties and reusable tote bags during lockdown,” Eng said. “I had also been collecting e-waste donated from Green Girl Recycling and Sparkfun for other projects. I have boxes of e-waste in my studio.”
The project, sponsored by a $5,000 grant from Boulder Arts Commission, aims to raise awareness about overconsumption and how much trash one household generates.
“As I was installing with a few volunteers, a lot of people in cars were cheering us on and saying how cool it was,” Eng said. “The project is really a process project with community members. It’s not so much about the end result as it is about mobilizing people to work toward a common event that highlights a social cause in a creative collaborative way.”
Although installation began on Aug. 8, the preparation was many months in the making.
“My partner Noah Anast and I were taking apart keyboards and sorting e-waste since December while watching films,” Eng said. “Once we could venture out more in May and stores gradually opened, Art Parts Creative Reuse agreed to be a drop-off center and neighbors of Parkside HOA would drop off items at my door step.”
Chris Carruth and Bettina Wiesenthal install “Earth Wear” on Aug. 8. (Creative Catalyzers/Courtesy photo)
Eng had thought of this art concept pre-pandemic and initially wanted to work with an art instructor who was in her 70s, a group of artists experiencing homelessness and volunteers from a support group for recovering addicts. With COVID slashing plans of in-person gatherings, Eng had to rethink the potential collaborations.
She eventually connected with Mother House, a Boulder-based nonprofit that provides support and a safe space for pregnant people in need and their children. She also teamed up with Attention Homes, a shelter for homeless teens. Through video tutorials and meetups via Zoom, inhabitants at both of these facilities were able to assemble wraps for the trees.
“Our Monday night presentations came to a halt and it was hard to find anyone willing to do anything remotely,” said Shanan Collins, Mother House program director. “When Angie (Eng) came to me with this, I thought it would be a great creative outlet and would teach our residents about recycling and the environment.”
With so many in-person events and gatherings on hold, residents welcomed a chance to learn a new skill and to tap into their artistic sides.
In August, from left, Nicole, Jin and Jessica, residents of Mother House, construct wraps for trees as part of “Earth Wear.” (Angie Eng/ Courtesy photo)
“The final project turned out beautifully,” Collins said. “I am very glad that Mother House was able to be involved with a project that is bringing awareness around the environment, plastics and recycling to the community at large.”
Although conceptualized prior to the global health scare, “Earth Wear,” in a way, calls attention to the waste folks may be generating more of since March.
“I was speaking with Kevin Emory, who runs Respect Your Mother Recycling, and they were trying to figure out a campaign to raise awareness of the waste from the take-out containers and gloves,” Eng said. “I thought about wrapping a tree in gloves as a tribute to the very ill and hospital workers, but access to those disposable used gloves were impossible.”
“Earth Wear” will be on display through Aug. 30.
“Regarding take-out, I’d hate to be the one to lecture anyone about their fries or pizza containers in the midst of lockdown,” Eng said. “People are on edge and losing all civility. The fact that for months people were not driving, cruising nor flying, has outweighed people’s extra take-out habits and the extra rubber gloves and hospital gowns. If half the world stopped flying on vacations and worked from home, we’d already be in better shape environmentally.”
The restrictions that have surfaced in response to coronavirus have obviously put a strain on many creatives, yet have also allowed room for new opportunities to emerge, given the current confines. With the majority of venues closed, people are seeking art outside the typical locale.
“This is the ideal time to dance, perform music and theater outdoors,” Eng said, “and make public art like people do around the world when there is no money nor infrastructure to do it in fancy theaters with accompanying fancy ticket prices. In this way, the pandemic could democratize the arts. However, many organizations and companies are still trying to put the square peg in the round hole for obvious reasons. Performance, concerts, theater, exhibits are going remote for free or for reduced ticket prices.”
A tree wrapped in reassembled tote bags as part of “Earth Wear.” (Angie Eng/ Courtesy photo)
“Earth Wear” took over 400 hours to complete under the shelter-in-place practice.
“In the beginning it was fun and novel, but after the fourth month, it’s a bit depressing because experiencing culture remotely is a reminder that you are doing it that way because you can’t go to the club, art center or theater now,” Eng said.
With the onset of the pandemic, Eng and Creative Catalyzers called upon community members to contribute their own creations to “The Boulder Bunny Rabbit Art Challenge,” that launched in April. The open-air gallery, that will remain up through Sept. 1, features work from nearly two dozen artists on exterior sides and back walls of buildings and storefronts near downtown Pearl Street.
“Next year, I imagine commissions, funding and planning will begin to rethink how can we present outdoors,” Eng said. “I’m already thinking about organizing a ‘fete de la musique’ next summer solstice — the day where every café, restaurant, theater, church has live bands playing for free outdoors, like in Paris every year since the 1980s. Even my next project, ‘Right on!,’ a civil rights painting series, will go up in September outside the Museum of Boulder.”
Eng is still collecting items for phase two of “Earth Wear” that will expand into Boulder’s Central Park and feature work on possibly more than eight trees. This second phase, scheduled to be on display May through July 2021, will feature more e-waste, such as etched-on CDs and Eng will consult with an engineer to make the wraps interactive. She is hoping to raise $2,000 through a campaign.
An etched CD that will likely be utilized in the second installment of “Earth Wear” scheduled for May 2021 in Boulder’s Central Park. (Angie Eng/ Courtesy photo)
“The project, a reminder of our impact on the planet is also like a backdrop against the pandemic, the recession, America’s social crisis, family break-ups, authoritarianism and world riots,” Eng said “The ironic twist is the scene I’ve orchestrated is a rosier picture; And that is what people can ponder, how we can make the world a better place in the midst and after this storm cycle.”