A good use for empty wine bottles. (Taken with Instagram at HCAF Point Theater)
As many of you who are connected with Unconsumption’s Facebook page know, I (Molly) recently visited Schreiner University (in Kerrville, Texas) to talk to students about upcycling.
While in the area, I spotted a couple of cool reuse examples, including this bottle tree on the grounds of the Hill Country Arts Foundation.
(If you like this bottle tree, check out others in earlier Unconsumption posts here, and more wine-related repurposing here.)
Happy wine o’clock (somewhere)!
More yard art in Austin: One of Scott Stevens’ “snakes” made from plastic bottle caps.
Watch the short documentary “Humble Trash” for more.
(photo by bubbaofthebubbles on Flickr)
More yard art in Austin: Robert Mace’s “bottle prairie.” Old license plates cover the side of the building in the background.
(photo by bubbaofthebubbles on Flickr)
The documentary “Humble Trash” highlights stories of six Austin residents who find creative uses for found, castoff objects.
Not surprisingly, the film’s stars — found-art artists and yardists, a.k.a. yard artists — share a love of “discovery” and seem to derive much satisfaction from both their salvaging efforts and work in displaying their finds.
One yardist, Scott Stevens, whose backyard is filled with bottle cap “snakes” suspended from tree limbs, doll and mannequin heads, crutches, and ironing boards, says working with his hands in his yard is therapeutic. (Check out this amazing panoramic/GigaPan photo of Scott’s yard. Take a moment to zoom in. Crazy, isn’t it?)
The six collections include the Museum of the Ephemerata and the Cathedral of Junk (mentioned previously here and here), which attracts some 10,000+ visitors each year; several of the collections have been stops on the annual Austin Art Yard Tour. (Held most recently last month, in case you missed it.)
Click on the above-embedded video to watch “Humble Trash” — it’s only 17 minutes long — or watch it here via the City of Austin. I think you’ll agree that producer Debbie Eynon Finley did a great job in capturing both the quirkiness and passions of this group of Austinites.
(Austin bottle tree photo via bubbaofthebubbles)
It’s wine o’clock (somewhere) — which means it’s time to share a wine-related repurposing find:
Today: “Bottle trees.” (Location: Shangri La Botanic Garden, in Orange, Texas. Photo by Greg Grant; via Felder Rushing’s Bottle Trees site, mentioned previously on Unconsumption here.)
For earlier finds, scroll through Unconsumption’s “wine o’clock” series of posts here.
Via lettersfromhere:
Stephanie Dwyer’s Bottle Trees (by Deep Fried Kudzu)
Stephanie, a Jackson, Mississippi-based metal artist, is known for her bottle tree creations. Her Web site links to that of horticulturalist Felder Rushing, who provides some bottle tree history and an array of photos of various bottle trees (a.k.a. “poor man’s stained glass”). If you look at his site, be sure to scroll down to view the photos.
For other wine-related repurposing ideas: Check out the Unconsumption “wine o’clock” series — a semi-regular series of Friday afternoon wine-themed posts — here.
Happy wine o’clock (somewhere), y’all!
![One Man’s Junk Is Another Man’s 7 Month Battle [Cathedral of Junk] - Austinist
Earlier we mentioned that Austinite Vince Hannemann’s Cathedral of Junk — “60 tons of old bicycles, VW Beetle trunks and various other castoff objects [fashioned] into a 33-foot-high edifice in his backyard” — was becoming a tourist attraction, but also getting some frowns from city officials.
The situation has apparently now been favorably resolved:
After receiving nationwide attention, and gracing the Austinist.com news feed, it looks like the Cathedral of Junk has finally received a building permit. After months of will they or won’t they, the City of Austin granted Cathedral creator Vince Hannemann the documentation that allows him to re-open the gates and allow visitors to once again marvel at the carefully crafted Cathedral.
According to KVUE, nearly 30 tons of material was removed from the structure over the past few months. The 40 tons that remain have been shown to withstand the 3,200 pounds of weight necessary to get the permit.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbmvyepTP21qzv12bo1_250.jpg)
One Man’s Junk Is Another Man’s 7 Month Battle [Cathedral of Junk] - Austinist
Earlier we mentioned that Austinite Vince Hannemann’s Cathedral of Junk — “60 tons of old bicycles, VW Beetle trunks and various other castoff objects [fashioned] into a 33-foot-high edifice in his backyard” — was becoming a tourist attraction, but also getting some frowns from city officials.
The situation has apparently now been favorably resolved:
After receiving nationwide attention, and gracing the Austinist.com news feed, it looks like the Cathedral of Junk has finally received a building permit. After months of will they or won’t they, the City of Austin granted Cathedral creator Vince Hannemann the documentation that allows him to re-open the gates and allow visitors to once again marvel at the carefully crafted Cathedral.
According to KVUE, nearly 30 tons of material was removed from the structure over the past few months. The 40 tons that remain have been shown to withstand the 3,200 pounds of weight necessary to get the permit.
“Vince Hannemann has assembled 60 tons of old bicycles, VW Beetle trunks and various other castoff objects into a 33-foot-high edifice in his backyard here. This “Cathedral of Junk,” as he calls it, has become a local landmark in the 21 years since he started working on it. Just last year, it appeared in promotional materials for the People’s Gallery, a city-sponsored art exhibition meant to showcase Austin’s quirkiness and creative energy.
“But now Austin officials are taking a more serious look at the towering trash assemblage and thinking about whether it really belongs where it is. The reconsideration has reopened debate about how best to define and preserve Austin’s unique character.”
— Austin’s Cathedral of Junk Attracts Tourists to Artist’s Backyard, Neighbors Are Bummed - WSJ.com
