Recycled, re-seen - Charlene Cerny

All over the world, folk artists are making use of discarded and recycled materials. Focusing on the folk-art practices of several cultures, this book celebrates the work of the artists involved and explores the environments in which they live and work.;For the artists and craftspeople featured, heaps of disposable packaging and obsolete junk are raw materials with endless potential, whether their motivation is to satisfy a creative vision, entertain and teach children, perform a ceremonial function, or address an economic necessity. The book reveals tin-can briefcases and toys made by Senegalese artisans; tyre-tread sandals, tin-can lanterns and licence-plate dustpans from Mexico; ceremonial headdresses from Ecuador adorned with light-bulbs and doll parts in place of traditional charms and amulets; and works made from bottle tops, tyres, hub-caps and old machinery by self-taught artists in the United States.;Published in conjunction with a travelling exhibition which opened in May 1996 at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, the book also contains essays by a group of scholars in the fields of anthropology, art history, folklore and American studies.