Famed Dutch expressionist painter Vincent van Gogh said, “The only time I feel alive is when I am painting.” Such is the power of art, whether creating or observing it, art can inspire, open your heart, and change your life. But does art have the power to reduce waste in the landfills? Apparently it does.
Enter Peter Schulberg, director and founder of the nonprofit Eco-LogicalART Gallery. Schulberg has come up with a system to upcycle discarded PVC vinyl from billboards into artwork at Eco-LA. The annual Los Angeles event, opening on June 13th, pairs artists with PVC vinyl from billboards. The result is a bonanza of vibrant public artwork and to date, the event has diverted more than three tons of PVC vinyl from the landfill. We caught up with Peter Schulberg to ask a few questions about Eco-LA.
Please tell us a bit about Eco-LA.
Eco-LA specializes in art and functional art made from recovered and recycled elements.
How did the event get started?
The process of painting on recycled vinyl is what I call "Di-vinyl Intervention" — that was the day that I heard this thud from inside my design studio. I thought someone had just fallen off the roof. In fact what I found out on the sidewalk was "killed" copy from a billboard located over my gallery— “killed copy” that's the term for a de-installed billboard.
At first I thought to simply drape the reverse side of the 14 x 48 vinyl and offer it to street artists. Fearing a bit of chaos, I then decided to more formally stretch the material into canvases. Then I offered the free canvass and exposure on the exterior of the gallery to artists via art newsgroups.
What are the Live Curtain Drops?
The Live Curtain Drops reveal a new 14 x 48 foot art piece painted on recycled billboard vinyl and displayed directly over the gallery for one month and viewed an estimated one million times by people.
The Live Curtain Drops also feature live billboard painting of the next month's installation, gallery works on vinyl, eco-accessories for sale in the Eco-LA "Recovery Room", and more. All the events are free and open to the public. We will do "Second Saturday at Eco-LA" Curtain Drops on July 11, Sept 12, Oct 10, Nov 14, Dec 12 and Jan 9, 1010.
What is the Second Saturday at Eco-LA on June 13th?
The June 13th is the premiere of the series. We expect 200+ people out on the corner for the first Curtain Drop. The gallery is located directly below the art piece. The opening runs from 6-10pm.
How many artists are participating this year?
There are 15-20 painting the big images and twice that amount creating smaller works on recycled vinyl.
Any artists you would like to tell us a bit about?
Too many to list except to say they are incredibly varied as to gender, ethnicity, style and level of success. There are some right out of art school and some sell for 10k (US$10,000).
How has the event changed over the last four years?
In 2005, we started just with wall six canvases. For Earth Day 2007, we got billboard companies to donate time on actual billboards. First we created five, then ten, then twelve billboard art pieces. With two shows in LA and one in San Francisco to date the works have been seen over 40 million times.
What happens to the PVC vinyl if it isn't 'upcycled' into art?
The PVC is bonded into the layers of the vinyl making it impossible to recycle or extract.
How much PVC vinyl have you kept out of the landfill?
We estimate over three tons of vinyl have been diverted from landfills.
How much does the art sell for?
Small pieces can go for as little as US$200 and the large pieces for US$15,000. To date we've sold over 45k (US$45,000) of art on vinyl.
Visit: http://www.eco-logicalart.org/
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