Ever wonder what happens to corrugated cardboard (you know...the untreated stuff with the wavy center "core") once it's hauled off to the recycling facility?
The short story is that the material is broken down with water, transformed into a pulp, mixed with wood shavings, screened, dried and then ultimately reincarnated into fresh, new shipping boxes and containers.
Positively riveting, right? Well, I hope I haven't lost your attention yet - trust me, cardboard can actually be "exciting", especially when in the hands of artist Mark Langan, who rarely ever allows his stash to travel beyond his front doorstep.
Instead of entrusting his local municipality to give the material a second life, the Ohio resident prefers to take matters into his own hands by wielding nothing more than a finely sharpened razor knife and non-toxic glue.
Somehow, the imaginative sculptor coaxes remarkably elaborate and impossibly refined shapes and patterns to emerge from what was once rather humble and plain-Jane in appearance.
A corrugated yet classy interpretation of Munch's "The Scream" and a timely update of the iconic Uncle Sam poster (announcing that he wants the public to recycle) both offer a stark contrast to abstract visual arrangements of varying textures and sizes.
The inventive cardboard reclamation specialist, who is frequently commissioned by various paper product manufacturers, recycling firms and other assorted eco-friendly industries to create specially themed works of art, has no illusions that his efforts are making a major dent in our landfill problem.
In the grand scheme of things however, every little effort truly helps.
He is hopeful that his work inspires people to realize what wonderful potential all materials have, and at the very least, perhaps they will become more active in the recycling movement.
For the 4+ year self-taught veteran of the cardboard sculptural arts, his process is vexingly simple -- he just sketches his concept out onto paper and then runs with it.
Oh, but then there's his technique, which clearly requires the patient of a saint.
With great attention to detail, Langan makes hundreds of precise cuts, building layer upon layer of cardboard (sometimes even creating an improvised paper slurry putty that he uses like clay to create a 3-dimensional effect).
The result - pure cardboard perfection. Bet you never guessed that the ubiquitous consumer material could ever look so artful.
linda slasberg
said on March 10, 2010