Coachella Preview: "TRASHed: The Art of Recycling" : Cartwheel Art

Coachella Preview: “TRASHed: The Art of Recycling”

Posted by Dana Nichols

Despite this art project’s name, if you call these amusing works “trash cans” you’re wrong. They’re recycling bins, and they will be fully functional at The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Annual Festival April 12-14 and April 19-21, 2013. The bins have been painted by 60 artists who were chosen from thousands of online submissions, as well as a Facebook contest, coordinated by Global Inheritance. The goal of the “TRASHed: Art of Recycling” is:

…to be available but also be inspirational. We take the recycling bins on site and we really try to create pieces of art that will engage people. Hopefully that inspires people to pay attention to the fact that there is a fully developed recycling program at the festival.

This quip from the program’s Coachella video reflects Global Inheritance’s mission to bring awareness to environmental issues. Other projects at Coachella will include “Recyclosaurus Rex” and “The Oasis,” where thirsty people can taste-test water from different sources, said TRASHed project manager Danielle Carrillo, who was at the L.A. preview exhibition on Thursday, March 28, along with artists, and their friends and followers. Exhibited three weeks before these spraypainted, papier-mâchéd, and lighted bins serve duty on the polo fields of Indio at the huge festival, the recycling bins were previewed for three days (Mar. 28-30) in the Los Angeles Arts District. We asked: What does a plain old recycling bin do, exactly, to become a heralded Coachella TRASHed recycling bin?

To get itself into the hands of one of the selected artists, a recycling bin begins at the L.A. Arts District Global Inheritance office (or is purchased by the artist at Home Depot for $189.97). It is then sanded and primed before the artist does his or her magic in their home studio. Then, with its brand new identity as a space ship, a cuddly pug, a sea serpent, a goldfish cracker or an arcade game, it’s either shipped — from as far as Vancouver and Baltimore — or hand-delivered back to Global Inheritance, and eventually Coachella. After it has done a good deed by making recycling fun for adults, it is given a second life to make recycling fun for kids as a donation to an Indio or L.A. school.

In return for painting recycling bins, artists are awarded a VIP weekend pass to Coachella.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Annual Festival
April 12-14 and April 19-21, 2013
81-800 Avenue 51 Indio, CA 90036
323.930.5700

The TRASHed bins will be previewed the week before Coachella in the city of Coachella on Tues., April 9 from 6-9pm.

Top image: Recycling bin by Daisuke Okamoto.

Recycling bin by Eric Tresback.

A sparkling recycling bin by Nori Pesina.

This recycling bin by Malik Girley is probably going to get a lot of attention after nightfall on the Coachella polo field.

Alluminati by Lester Corral.

A Sad Tail of Pug by Cesar Torres was the most popular bin at the L.A. preview, according to Global Inheritance’s Danielle Carrillo.

Recycling bin by ELECTROBUDISTA (a.k.a. Adalberto Camperos).

Artist Jason Earl Yurkovic’s recycling bin will appeal to Coachella attendees who like to dive in the ocean, or wish they could.

Kelly Malka’s recycling bin on the left and Wall-E bin on the right.

The artists each made a mini bin that coordinates with their life size bin. The mini bins are about six inches tall and will be available to purchase after the event.