I love the Albuquerque International Sunport. I love that it’s small and easy to navigate. I love the ageless art deco wood-and-leather chairs, comfy to sit in while waiting to board a flight. Mostly I love what the airport folks dream up to entertain weary travelers passing in and out of the airport’s doors.
Case in point — Recycle Runway: The Airport Project.
Recycle Runway is an exhibit of elegant dresses, coats, shoes, hats, and other accessories — all made of trash. Pages from magazines folded into intricate, colorful fans and sewn onto a flamenco dress. An entire cowgirl getup, complete with cowgirl hat, made from the woven sheets of phone books. The most colorful outfit is a dress covered in plastic “buttons” cut out of laundry detergent bottles.
This exhibit is delightful. More than that, it is hopeful.
There is something moving about seeing the beauty that can come from empty aluminum cans, reams of computer paper, ubiquitous plastic bags, crushed glass, even rusty nails. No woman is ever going to wear crushed glass all over herself (Help! Your hug just shredded my stomach!), yet these articles of clothing bring home the message that we MUST recycle if we are to save our planet. That recycling is more than a duty. Recycling is beauty.
Nancy Judd started Recycle Runway seven years ago, after working as the Recycling Coordinator for the City of Santa Fe and then as Executive Director of the New Mexico Recycling Coalition. The exhibit has already been featured in several airports this past fall. It’s unclear where it will go next, but one thing is for sure. It adds to a growing movement of artists taking on environmental issues.
My favorite pieces are a Carmen Miranda-style headdress, blouse, and skirt made of plastic Target bags, and a coat made of cassette innards.
Recycle Runway will be in the Albuquerque International Sunport through January 16, 2008. If you miss it, you can write to an address on the website to ask whether it will be showing up at an airport in your part of the country. And if you’re really excited by this kind of art, mark your calendars for the tenth annual Recycle Santa Fe Festival in November 2008.
Good job, little airport of mine! So what that you’re not truly international? You give free internet access, and more important, ya got culture!
I love this piece, ybonesy. Well researched and compelling. Maybe I’ll be in New Mexico around next November for the Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival. There is a lot of recycle art going on in Minneapolis, too, and with good reason.
A few weeks ago, the Mall of America had a weekend pickup drive scheduled to collect and recycle old electronics and computers. Boy, were they surprised when the lines of cars extended all the way down the street. And they even had to shut down Day 2 because they got so many items the first day, that all of their dumpsters were full.
I hope Nancy Judd’s exhibit comes to MSP. I’d love to see it in person. My favorite pieces of the photos you show are the cassette coat and the nail skirt. I think they’d look lovely together. Or maybe the cassette coat and the plastic skirt. It’s cheery and colorful (as only plastic can be)!
Even though artists have been using found objects in their art for a very long time, this environmental art movement speaks to the growing need to focus attention on all the garbage we are throwing away on a daily basis.
I was astounded to find out that even, speculums (yes, speculums) are plastic now. They say they are more sterile, flexible, and easier for the doctors to use. But where is all that hard plastic ending up? I’m thinking one day we’ll see a speculum art piece from a socially conscious feminist artist. 8)
BTW, I love the ABQ Sunport. It’s one of my fave airports. MSP is not bad, though. It’s got a great small-town feel, good art, and you can do some great shopping there, too. But ABQ is so full of light and space (unlike Minneapolis). And I’m always relaxed in the Sunport, as opposed to other airports where I’m moving quickly, stressed, and trying to find the gate. I wish more airports were that relaxing.
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Thanks for this posting. I am visually and conceptually provoked (in a very good way).
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Oh, wow, do I love this collection! I need to find the pictures of the half dozen sun hats I once crocheted from strips cut from grocery and newspaper bags. Wonder if my daughter still has the matching beach bag/sun hat set I made her?
Then there were the early Christmases when half the tree ornaments were made of tin can lids, and the wreath made of recycled egg carton cups fashioned into rosettes and sprayed gold … and the time …
Recycling and I go way back. Exhibits like this are such a valuable service with the statement they make. Thanks for sharing.
Now I want to go play with rusty nails instead of cooking dinner!
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I suddenly had a yearning for those crocheted purses and hats and vests that use recycled items for the centers. You know, often they’ll use aluminum or tin, and then the yarn holds them together. (Is that whast your crocheted sun hats and beach bags looked like, ritergal?)
I have a bunch of egg cartons and a need for a wreath. Hmmm, maybe I can find a “recipe” on the internet.
I first saw this exhibit on one of my recent trips out of town, but as usual on those trips, I was in too much of a hurry to stop and take my time looking. Friday I went and had lunch at the airport with a friend who’d been in Taos. I got there early and was able to look at the exhibit. What a treat!
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ybonsey,
Very good post! Love the photos and the message. You’re writing flows in a way that makes it seem so easy to write, yet I know it isn’t. You make it seem easy because it’s seamless!
I enjoy art made from found objects, and also the thought process involved in using an object for a purpose other than what it was intended for. It gets me to thinking.
Your litle airport sounds like heaven. Have you had the misfortune to fly into Atlanta? Yikes! It feels like you’re in the middle of a Minority Report movie.
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Thanks for the comment, C. Yes, I have flown into Atlanta. Isn’t that the Delta hub? I remember flying Delta, being as how I could get a direct flight from ABQ. I wore gray pants and a blue shirt, and I was standing in line for the bathroom when another traveler approached me and asked me to bring her a blanket. That’s when I realized all the Delta flight attendants had the exact same outfit that I had on!
Other than that, C., I don’t recall the Atlanta airport too well. I’ve only been to Atlanta twice (I loved the city); all other times were flights through Atlanta. After a while, the big airports — Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, LA — start to blur.
I love the Portland airport. It’s much bigger than ABQ, yet it has a small feel. I like Denver’s airport. The poor San Jose (CA) airport has outgrown its size. As has San Francisco, which if you’re taking a flight outside the US, you have to go through little weird doors and long hallways and secret elevators and take buses to get to the international terminal. Very strange feeling.
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Fun photos!! I love those polka dots!
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I travelled a lot the last few years and spent more time in airports than I ever have before. I’ve never flown into Atlanta (and now want to just for the experience). I’ve started to really notice the architecture in airports. Dulles had amazing architecture with the windows and light. But it seemed just too crowded for its size.
Denver is pretty new and tried to incorporate the feel of the West into its airport. I don’t know if they quite accomplished what they wanted to. It seems scattered to me and hard to figure out that you need to take the train to get from here to there.
The Texas airports don’t do much for me. I like Baltimore. It’s non-descript but easy to get around. I can’t remember ever flying into Portland. I used to always drive over there from Missoula, Montana. I remember Hawaii and Florida airports were open air and light. Or they used to be. I bet security has been beefed up a lot since I flew into them.
I don’t think MSP is particularly inviting from the outside. It’s kind of walled and protected for the winter climate. But once you get in, it’s easy to get around. It’s kind of like being in a ski resort. Strange, but true.
All airports seem to have a certain “feel” to them, depending on climate, culture, and the mood I’m in when I travel through them. 8)
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Back in the early 90’s in Socorro, NM was an artist who made all of her stuff out of recycled stuff. For years there was a giant bicycle in the median on the main boulevard going through town. My favorite piece of her’s is a giant burro head made of old electronic and computer parts; hard drives, transitors, wires, etc. It is in one of the reading rooms at the New Mexico Tech library.
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This sounds just like my kind of fashion show! Shame I’m so far away from it! I wish I had the sewing skills to do something that creative for clothing!
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I took these shots on Dec 8, and on Dec 10 I went on a trip. Some of the outfits had changed. There were some great ones that hadn’t been there before. Of course, I was running late so didn’t get to stop and really look at them. One seemed to be like the cassette tape but with white plastic.
I wish I could sew, too! I love clothing, and I often have in mind what I want my clothing to look like. Then I have to go on these searches for stuff that doesn’t exist. I would love to do my own clothing. (Right!)
Oh, I wanted to also point out that this week, the Albuquerque International Sunport actually became international! Frontier Airlines started a direct flight to Puerta Vallarta. Woo-hoo!
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Hi,
Nancy Judd here- THANK YOU for writing this wonderful description of my exhibit with such great photos!
I have included a link to your “trash-in-fashion” web page on my web page dedicated to this ABQ show. (http://www.recyclerunway.com/pages/abq_airport.html)
I plan to tour this exhibition through airports around the country and Atlanta (the worlds busiest airport) expressed an interest in hosting my work for a year starting the summer of 2009. I have also had enthusiastic reception from the art airport curators in Denver, JFK (terminal 10), Seattle, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.
My hope is that this exhibit helps the viewer look at “waste” in a different way, thus encouraging people to recycle more and ultimately find additional ways to lessen their impact on the earth.
Creating the dresses is pure play for me… I absolutely love figuring out how to make rusty nails sexy and broken glass elegant! I love what I do and believe that when we tap into what makes our heart sing, doors open and amazing things happen. That has certainly been my experience.
Again, thank you for taking the time to photograph and write about my work!
Peace,
Nancy Judd
RecycleRunway.com
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I’m so glad to hear from you, Nancy. The exhibit is fabulous. It’s so whimisical and unique — it really drew me in. The rusty nail outfit was, indeed, sexy. A little Dominatrix-oriented, I must say ; – ).
I’m glad to hear that Atlanta might be featuring the exhibit. Good for them. I hope C pops back in to see that.
I’d love to see something done with all the plastic bottles we generate. I just can’t believe how ubiquitous they’ve become. I bet there’s a pareto out there of recyclable trash and how much we generate of each thing. If there is, plastic bottles surely float to the top.
Thanks for sharing, too, your thoughts about work and passion. I agree with you wholeheartedly. Happy New Year!
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Hey there ybonesy,
I was researching doing a story on Nancy Judd and look who’s already written about it — you! She sounds really cool. Thanks for sharing.
~carolyn
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I actually designed a cape about 5 years made from clear plastic bottles painted on the inside a-la-Klimt… just have not made it yet!
But yes there are an alarming number of those bottles out there. Luckily they are easily recyclable, HOWEVER we have to remember that recycling is not enough! Production, transportation and recycling all take tremendous amounts of energy so we need to keep focused on source reduction and reuse. In this case refilling a dedicated water bottle rather then buying cases of the little plastic ones.
OK, enough soap-boxing!
Nancy
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So true, so true. My parents (and their generation — both in their 80s — is so much more aware of this than we are) do just that. Refill bottles, put them in the fridge. Of course, some would say, but the point is to buy WATER.
I’d love to see that cape. I hope you finish it.
Also, Carolyn, this piece is the tip of the iceberg. I hope you’ll do a real piece on Nancy. (I can do it for you — hint, hint ; – ). But no matter what, do it! Also, I can only imagine your surprise when you did the research and came across this. Well, we are synch, aren’t we?!
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Nancy, I’ve been meaning to come back and comment about how delighted I was to see you had found ybonesy’s piece and red Ravine. Thank you for linking to us. It’s such a pleasure to promote artists and writers we believe in.
I’m sad to see no plans for making it to MSP. I wonder how to remedy that. We’re a pretty recycle conscious city. I’m surprised the powers that be here haven’t found your work yet. I wonder who the art curator is at MSP.
You bring up a good point about the energy recycling takes. It’s got to be effort at the source or reuse. Are you planning to do anything fashion-wise with computer or electronic parts? (Or maybe you already have.)
It seems like another huge area of collected waste that is growing by the minute. And not enough programs designed to reuse computers and cell phones. I know most people toss them. But I guess there is the toxicity issue with deconstructing computers. I was just curious.
ybonesy, I hope you get to write the piece for Carolyn. I think you should send her an email, double plant the little seed. 8)
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[…] To find more information from the source here […]
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[…] 15, 2009 by ybonesy Santa Fe designer Nancy Judd and her recycled “trashion” (trash fashion) are headed to Washington, DC, to the Green Inaugural Ball honoring President-elect Barack Obama. […]
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