EACH year, New Yorkers produce more than three million tons of garbage. The multimedia artist sTo Len's mission is to bring this waste to the fore, while raising awareness about the importance of recycling among Big Apple residents.
At first sight, trash and art are two radically opposed notions. The former represents everything that people seek to conceal and destroy, while the latter embodies what they strive to elevate and celebrate.
But that's not how sTo Len sees things. The multimedia artist recently embarked on an initiative questioning our approach to garbage as part of his residency at the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY).
The "Office of In Visibility" project seeks to highlight the relationship between New Yorkers, their trash, and those who collect it. It features a series of behind-the-scenes videos about garbage collection in New York City. sTo Len was inspired to create them after finding rolls of film under a sink at a sanitation department facility.
"I came into the project with an open mind, and surprisingly discovered that the sanitation department had a print studio and a television studio, with all these obsolete archival materials," the artist told The Art Newspaper. "No one has looked at these things in decades but they are extremely valuable; more than the history of sanitation, they tell the history of New York itself."
One of the videos included in "Office of In Visibility" shows archive footage of the garbage workers' strike that took place in New York in February 1968. At the end of these nine days of protest, nearly 100,000 tons of trash piled up in the streets of the American city.
Aiming for zero waste by 2030
Now, 54 years later, sTo Len's project sheds light on the close, but often overlooked, relationship between the city's residents and the 10,000 DSNY employees who clear up their discards every day.
"Every New Yorker has a role in creating trash, but very few do the work of collecting it -- and outside that group, perhaps even fewer consider the work involved," Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation, said in a statement.
What is clear is that the inhabitants of New York City produce a lot of garbage. The phenomenon is such that the collection and treatment of waste is a real challenge in the city, home to 8.5 million people, and sadly known for having its sidewalks pile up every evening with huge black or transparent plastic bags, but also sometimes furniture, sofas and other unusual objects.
New York currently recycles only one-fifth of all its waste, according to the city's Department of Sanitation. This is a bad habit that authorities are seeking to rectify by 2030. They pledged in 2015 to reduce the city's waste by 90% by that date, and to recycle it locally.
sTo Len is also hoping to encourage New Yorkers to rethink their attitude towards their garbage with his "Office of In Visibility" project. He has come up with a series of challenges, some practical and some fun, that people can undertake on a daily basis.
The goal is to show people that waste has many faces and that the recycling process is possible, in art as well as in our daily lives.
ETX Studio
Sat May 21 2022
Waste collection and disposal is a real challenge in New York City.
SDG: UTP lahir pelajar berkemahiran, tinggi tanggungjawab sosial
UTP berhasrat mendidik pelajar bukan sahaja untuk mahir dalam aspek teknikal tetapi juga untuk menjadi warganegara yang bertanggungjawab.
MAA semak semula unjuran jualan kenderaan 2024 kepada 765,000 unit
Persatuan Automotif Malaysia (MAA) telah menyemak semula unjuran jualan kenderaan bermotor baharu bagi 2024 kepada 765,000 unit daripada anggaran sebelumnya sebanyak 740,000 unit.
RUU 355: Pindaan perlu untuk praktikaliti, keadilan
Apa sahaja pindaan terhadap akta itu perlu berjalan selari dengan persediaan mereka yang bertanggungjawab melaksanakannya.
Rasionalisasi RON95 dijangka beri impak lebih besar kepada PKS - SAMENTA
SAMENTA menjangkakan rasionalisasi RON95 akan memberi impak yang lebih besar kepada perusahaan kecil dan sederhana (PKS) berbanding pelarasan subsidi diesel.
Malaysia sasar pengeluaran 40 peratus sektor akuakultur menjelang 2030
Malaysia menyasarkan pengeluaran 40 peratus hasil sektor akuakultur menjelang 2030 dalam usaha membantu mengimbangi keperluan perikanan negara.
10 Berita Pilihan - (16 Julai 2024
Antara pelbagai berita dalam dan luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
PAC beri tempoh tiga bulan kepada HRD Corp
Jawatankuasa Kira-kira Wang Negara (PAC) memberi tempoh tiga bulan kepada Perbadanan Pembangunan Sumber Manusia (HRD Corp) untuk mengemukakan laporan tindakan susulan terhadap syor jawatankuasa itu.
Kylian Mbappe tandatangan kontrak dengan Real Madrid
Bintang bola sepak Perancis Kylian Mbappe menandatangani kontrak selama lima tahun dengan kelab Sepanyol Real Madrid pada Selasa.
Pelepasan ketujuh air sisa nuklear Fukushima ke laut selesai
Jepun telah menyelesaikan pusingan ketujuh pelepasan air sisa radioaktif yang dirawat dari loji kuasa nuklear Fukushima Daiichi ke Lautan Pasifik pada Selasa.
Empat termasuk kapten maut dalam pertempuran
Empat anggota tentera India termasuk kapten meninggal dunia akibat kecederaan selepas pertempuuran pada malam isnin di Hutan Desa.