LAWRENCE: Trashed but treasured

Dumpster-diving art contest held at library

By Lea Kahn
   Take a picture frame found at a yard sale. Add a scrap of lining from an old fur coat, some nuts and bolts, a wristwatch, a length of chain and a latex glove.
   The result? Trashed art.
   That piece of artwork is among two dozen others on view at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch of the Mercer County Library System through the end of the month in honor of the 41st anniversary of Earth Day.
   This is the second year that the Trashed Art competition has been held, said reference librarian Karen Serach, who helped to organize the event. The contest is open to children in grades 7-12, and adults who live in Mercer County.
   The theme of this year’s contest is “Transformation,” Ms. Serach said. The goal is to encourage the community to look at trash in a different way and to create an awareness of the usefulness of garbage, she said. The submitted entries used at least 75 percent recycled content — metal, paper, rubber, plastic and cloth.
   The winners — three each in the student and adult categories — will be determined April 21. Prizes consist of gift certificates or items donated by the Friends of the Lawrence Library and local businesses. They will be awarded at the artists’ reception April 30 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the library. Winners will be notified by e-mail.
   Meanwhile, Lawrence resident Jean Lyndall-O’Donnell created the artwork that combines a picture frame, the lining from an old coat, the nuts and bolts and the wristwatch. At 82, she is the oldest artist represented in the contest.
   ”You look at it and you think, ‘I could do that.’ But it’s harder than it appears to be. I thought it was a unique way to use garbage. I like how she collected stuff from everywhere and made it look like it was supposed to be there,” Ms. Serach said.
   While Ms. Lyndall-O’Donnell is the oldest artist, the youngest contestant is 12 years old, she said. The artists hail from all over Mercer County — East Windsor, West Windsor, Hightstown, Pennington and Lawrence.
   ”We have quite a variety (of artwork). It’s not all collages,” Ms. Serach said, adding that the artists went off in many different directions. She said what she liked most was seeing how the artists take what could be called garbage and create art.
   Jaime An-Wong, who lives in West Windsor, took pieces of a tire, a rod and a couple of pieces of plywood for the base and created “Heart.” She wrapped the two pieces of tire around the rod and shaped them into a heart.
   ”How many times have you seen a ripped-up piece of tire on the side of I-95,” Ms. Serach said.
   Another entry consists of a brick, topped by chunks of lead solder, she said. Creator Wayne Harmor of East Windsor melted the solder from discarded plumbing pipes, dumped it into a bucket of gravel, and retrieved the lumps after the solder cooled.
   ”Feed the World” — a collection of wrappers from processed foods — was created by 15-year-old Sloane Garelick of Princeton Junction. The young artist pieced together blue labels from bottled water containers to represent the ocean, and used bits and pieces of brightly colored labels to form the continents.
   A closer look at the “continents” shows they are made up of wrappers from Reese’s Pieces, Mars candy bars, Snapple tea bottle labels, and Hershey’s chocolate bar wrappers — the types of labels from processed food that one might find in a school cafeteria.
   ”I am amazed at the creativity of the artists. The first week in March, a woman brought in a plastic purse (to enter in the contest). Who would have thought you could crochet plastic shopping bags into a purse? It just kept getting better and better,” Ms. Serach said of the entries.
   The plastic purse, by the way, is the creation of Lawrence resident Stacey Mann who, Ms. Serach said, actually uses it. The colorful purse is made up of small pieces of plastic shopping bags — blue, pink, yellow, red, white and gray.
   ”We’ve got it all — metal, paper, plastic — anything that is in your recycling bin. I’m really pleased at the number of people who are closet artists,” Ms. Serach said.
   The exhibits may be viewed at the Lawrence Headquarters Branch of the Mercer County Library System, located on Darrah Lane at Brunswick Pike. The library is open Monday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.