TRANSFORMATION
We call them debris . A word with many interpretations and uses, almost all of them with a negative connotation that bring to mind negative images "Volume of soil or useless materials to throw away", but also determination of incompetence and worthlessness "this one is for the rubbish".
They are waste, but they are not useless. Construction waste, the largest stream of waste worldwide, in addition to the energy, carbon dioxide and natural resources they contain, also includes the history of human progress
They are the materials that for many years offered protection from weather conditions, contributed to the transport of goods, were breakwaters, houses, monuments, roads, ports. They are the materials that contributed to the development of trade and the dominance of empires. They contributed to the creation of architectural masterpieces and led the course of architecture to incredible turns.
And they have one more key feature. They can be reused. And this act helps to reduce soil pollution, prevent the destruction of open spaces, eliminate the degradation of landscape aesthetics and reduce land values.
Through the use of art and its universal communicative language, the Network of Cities with Lakes in collaboration with the think tank MATART through the action "TRANSFORMATION" attempts to transform climate sensitivity from pessimism to active engagement. And to help raise awareness of the environmental crisis.
It also attempts to convey another message. That recycling construction waste, the world's largest waste stream, can help reduce Carbon Dioxide, the main cause of global warming.
Transformation. Art as an ecological reminder of climate change
Rubble and construction waste, materials and objects that have closed their useful cycle and have been polluting the environment until now became the basic material for artistic compositions and artworks in public space, in order to send strong messages of awareness, prevention and mobilization for the environment.
The action took place in the Municipality of Thermos, Etoloakarnania in July 2023. 3 large sculptures were created using metal waste materials, collected from the natural environment, where they ended up after the human intervention. The sculptures were made by a group of artists under the supervision of Dimitris Kretsis, a visual artist and graduate of the Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA)
Waste as environmental art narrates the use of metals in the evolution of human civilization and the new cycle of their life in the art world, since they closed the previous one as waste, taking on artistic symbolism and conveying powerful messages:
on decarbonisation and climate neutrality
the resistance of the forces of nature to human intervention and
the attempt to restore man's broken bond with nature.
