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WHEN: APRIL 13-MAY 4, 2012

OPENING: FRIDAY APRIL 13, 5-7PM (sponsored by NMA Art in Public Places, A Department of Cultural Affairs).

WHERE: CENTENNIAL PROJECT SPACE 54 1/2 East San Francisco Street, Suite 2, upstairs from the Santa Fe Plaza located to right of Haagen-Daz’

Consumption: An Installation Exploring Waste

Artist Nancy Judd, known internationally for her couture fashion sculptures made from trash, has branched out in a new direction in collaboration with artist Nicole Morris, to create an installation funded by a grant from New Mexico Arts, Art in Public Places.

At first glance this installation might simply look like a chic designer show room, decorated with interesting furnishings and items repurposed in surprising ways. Imagine a cowboy themed children’s room with clean lines and a hint of contemporary Japanese stylization. But scratch under the surface and you will find many more layers of curiosity and significance.

Everything in the room was carefully chosen from other’s discarded trash. Judd and Morris partnered with the Santa Fe Solid Waste Management Agency, a joint entity of the City and County, which manages the Buckman Road Recycling and Transfer Station (BuRRT). Over the last nine months the artists and staff have been conducting a reuse study to document the amounts and types of waste that enter the transfer station for disposal but have the possibility of being reused. During the study the artists were allowed to pull out items to use in the installation. The idea behind the survey is to provide the agency with information that could be utilized in planning a reuse center at the Transfer Station.

In 2011 the City and County governing bodies passed a joint Solid Waste Plan. One of the recommendations of the Santa Fe Solid Waste Advisory Committee that generated the plan was to create a reuse center at BuRRT. National studies have shown that reuse is one of the best ways that we can both conserve resources and reduce trash.

Considering how many people recycle today, one would be surprised at what still goes into the landfill. New Mexico’s recycling rate is 16 percent, this means that 84 percent of our garbage is buried the landfill and will outlive us for thousands of years. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 80% of what we throw away can be recycled and reused. Not only are we creating landmasses of trash, but we are also using an unsustainable amount of resources to fuel the consumption that creates so much waste.

The artists’ intention with this installation is to encourage people to look at the things we throw away with new eyes, so that next time, they may consider alternatives such as repair, reuse, repurposing or recycling. But it is more than just re-considering garbage; the artists are actually asking the audience to reconsider our “all-consuming” need to shop. Where do all the resources come from that create all our “things”? How many trees does it take to provide the 7,000,329,624 people alive today with just one pencil each? (It is estimated that 300,000 pencils can be made from 1 tree so, 23,334 trees.)

This project is funded through the Art in Public Places Program of the State of New Mexico, Department of Cultural Affairs. The New Mexico Arts Centennial Project Space seeks to celebrate New Mexico’s centennial with unique visions of the state’s history and the legacy of its people from a contemporary perspective.

Judd and Morris believe that celebrating the 4th centennial needs to include consideration of our environmental impact on our community. “It is important to consider what effect our disposable society and over consumption is having locally on Santa Fe. What do we want this treasured community to look like in the NEXT 400 years? With this installation we want to inspire the creativity in all of us to care for this beautiful place we call home.”