Color Coded Catalogs Recycled Into Dramatic Eco-Art Statement

When I was fresh out of college and newly launched into the real adult world, there were many things that I longed for, but at the top of my list were mail order catalogs and lots of 'em. I guess I've always been a cheap date.

It seems so ridiculous to admit that out loud, but being a new consumer meant that I had to earn my training wheels with regard to the fine art of wanting things...and naturally I had to school myself in what exactly I thought I needed to covet.

I never received as many unsolicited catalogs as the majority of my neighbors, but I was loopy enough to ask them if they'd kindly donate them to me when they were done with them.

Some people have their glass of wine or their 62 inch plasma screen tv -- I just had my stack of catalogs that I gazed at, imagining that someday I would order from them without once worrying about the price tags.

Boy how times have changed -- ever since I willingly registered with the Direct Marketing Association about 3 years ago, I've been catalog free and loving it www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/regist.action .

Amanda Nelson used to be one of the many American households bombarded with unsolicted catalogs until she decided to literally take matters into her own hands by creating a work of art that makes an impactful statement about our mind-boggling level of consumption.

After saving hundreds upon hundreds of catalogs, cutting them into 2 inch cubes, hand-bundling them with string and then arranging them by color into an 8" X 5" wall hanging, Nelson created an astounding work of art that the CCTV Drive By Gallery had on display up until recently.

Taking approximately five months to complete, the piece is composed of 40,000 pieces of mail that might typically get discarded in the average household.

All that paper was sent to just one household.  Do the images in this blog post resonate with you the way that the artist had hoped?

Do you appreciate the efforts of artists who make an environmental and cultural statement with their works? Does this wall piece make you want to sign up with the Direct Marketing Association today or at the very least take any other measures to tighten up your eco-ship?