Waste Not, Want Not at MOMA
Saw a fascinating art project at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) last weekend, which chimed with themes we’re exploring on lakelandbelvedere.com/ The Waste Not installation is the work of Beijing artist Song Dong who’s gathered together around a shed all the artifacts – shoes and stools, bottles and buckets, wood, wire, kettles, gramophones, packaging etc – which his mother saved over the years for future use and repurposing. They make a telling story at many different levels, one that’s both personal and political.
They flashed up images for me of our cellar with timber I’ve kept (and part used) for 40 years; and of the Ethiopian woman last year – when we trekked through the Simien Mountains – who squatted for an hour, so she could take away my emptied plastic water bottle.
Recycling and reuse makes sense to save resources, but here’s the conundrum. As economies develop, the incentive to conserve is lowered and more and more gets thrown away. Waste Not has a message for all of us, not least for the people of New York and Beijing, whose countries produce over 50% of all CO² emissions. There’s an intriguing video of the installation being assembled.
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[...] did with old gear. (See photo of field opposite they have recently acquired.) It reminded me of the MOMA Waste not installation we saw in New York last [...]