2nd Annual Upcycling Art Installations

Each grade level worked with, and “upcycle” one product.  Additional recycled materials may have been added to embellish the final art piece. Students had the opportunity to alter the product into an exquisite piece of art. 

On Open House night (April 6, 2017 6:00-7:30pm), and through the month of April, students’ upcycled art pieces are displayed as grade level group iInstallations in a variety of locations around the Bacich campus.  I have assigned a product to each grade level, (please see below).  Students, staff and the community worked together in collecting the products/materials.

Products/materials to be upcycled by grade level:

4th grade: 3D eye glasses and a variety of recycled materials

3rd grade: CD’s and scraps of yarn and other recycled fiber materials

2nd grade: Plastic water bottles

1st grade: Cardboard and packaging materials 

TK and K: tin/aluminum cans, and aluminum foil, as well as other recycled items

The Bacich TK-4th grade Upcycling Installations will be displayed in different locations around campus. Please refer to grade level project descriptions and display locations below. 

Upcycling Project Description by Grade Level

TK and Kindergarten      

Cans and Aluminum Foil - to Robots:
Recycling Makes Sense unlike landfills (which simply stockpile trash) recycling removes waste completely, then turns it back to useful products. Recycling saves money, and in turn reduces the amount of trash going to the landfills. 

ALUMINUM RECYCLING
Recycling one ton of aluminum:
Saves 14,000 kWh of energy
Saves 39.6 barrels (1,663 gallons) of oil
Saves 237.6 million Btu's of energy
Saves 10 cubic yards of landfill space

TK and Kindergarten students went on a field trip to the Recycling Center. They learned that tin and aluminum cans should not go in the regular trash and go to a landfill. Students required the knowledge that new products can be made out of the recycled aluminum, or we can upcycle the cans and create amazing robots. No need to go to the art store to purchase supplies!

Students were introduced to the basic cylindrical form of a can and faced the design challenge to build a stable, artistic looking robot, adding additional recycled items such as: light bulbs, miscellaneous metal parts, Lego's, bottle caps, corks etc. Students imagined what kind of tasks their robots could do and they came up with creative names for their whimsical friends built out of cans. 


Display Location: 175 Robots at Bacich Library

1st GRADE        
Cardboard and Packaging Materials - to Self-Portraits inspired by Picasso:
What shall we do with all this cardboard and packaging material that stacks up in every household or garage? Have you ever wondered what to do with random bottle caps, buttons, drinking straws, plastic forks, ribbons and other silly items? The Bacich 1st grade students upcycled all of this "trash" into fun and colorful 3D portraits. 

Students got their inspiration from portraits by Pablo Picasso. Students cut, shaped, and glued a variety of cardboard pieces in a cubistic arrangement. Picasso often added a clue about the person he portrayed. Students experimented with adding a clue element to their portraits;  i.e. glasses, freckles, eye color, birth mark, necklace, hat etc. The application of additional recycled materials made these portraits one of a kind art pieces. 

Display Location: Fence by main parking lot (car line)

2nd GRADE        
Plastic Bottle - to Garden Ornaments:
Facts about plastic pollution: 50% of the plastic we use, we use just once and throw away. The average American throws away approximately 185 pounds of plastic per year. Americans throw away 35 billion plastic water bottles every year. 

These facts are stunning, but even grander was the inspiration to not throw them away, but turn the plastic bottles into garden art. Each 2nd grade student was directed to paint a plastic bottle with acrylic paint. After the paint had dried, students cut the bottles into three sections. Students used scissors to cut and shape the plastic into flowers and leaves. Depending on the type of plastic, students were able to mold, bend and shape the plastic with their hands. Students used twisty and wire ties to assemble their ornaments. Students used acrylic Decor pens to decorate, and add details. 

Display Location: Gardens by 2nd grade classrooms

3rd GRADE        
CD's and DVD's - to Collaborative Curtain:
Yarn scraps, plastic shopping bags, bubble wrap, ribbons, onion bag netting, and old CD's make up this dazzling work of upcycled art. This installation of upcycled CD's was composed of 450 woven masterpieces, three by each student, than strung together. 

Students began by tying a piece of yarn to a CD, putting one end through the center hole, wrapping it tightly around the CD, repeating this action to create a loom with 7, 9, or even 11 spokes. Students wove a variety of recycled weft (yarn or thread) over, and under the spokes, turning in a circle. Students tied the finished CD's together into rows of 9 to hang vertically. 

This collaborative project really brought students together; they eagerly shared ideas, experimented with recycled materials, and helped each other. Students understood that by working together, they were able to create something stunning, and beautiful that they could not have created alone. It is this kind of pride satisfaction, and learning experience that lies at the heart of collaborative art-making. 

Display Location: Wall space in front of Music Room

4th GRADE        
3-D Eye Glasses - to See-Stunners (Wearable Art) inspired by Cyrus Kabiru:
Cyrus Kabiru is a self-taught emerging Kenyan artist, best known for his elaborate and detailed sculptural spectacles or C-Stunners, (C for Cyrus instead of See) made from found objects and recycled material sourced on the streets of Nairobi.

Digging through electronic refuse and found metal in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi, Cyrus Kabiru refashions found materials into different wearable forms. Often these take the form of flamboyantly composed glasses, large eyewear that can often mask the entire face.

Kabiru explains that his glasses obsession started at a young age, and blossomed as his father crushed his dreams of owning his own pair. “When I was young, I used to admire real glasses but my dad was a bit harsh and he never wanted me to have real glasses. That’s the reason I started making the glasses.”

His creations situate themselves in several different areas of art, shuffling between performance, sculpture, and fashion—embodying the playfulness of the youth generation in Nairobi. “When you walk in town and you see someone with my glasses, the glasses will [get] all your attention,” said Kabiru. “If you have any stress it is like a therapy.”

As an African man, Kabiru realized that what people often noticed first about him was his skin color or gender – but with his creations, the glasses were the first thing people noticed.  His creations change people's perceptions and assumptions.  Creating a See-Stunner may give people something different to focus on (versus skin color, ethnicity, gender, etc).

4th grade students used a pair of 3D glasses as a starting point to envision, plan and create their own see-stunners. Students selected miscellaneous recycled materials that inspired them. Students personalize and decorate their glasses in an artistic, aesthetically pleasing way. They adhered materials to glasses frames using hot glue. Students explored the concept of what we “see” and what we think based on what we “see” first about people. They were encouraged to consider perception and bias assumptions we make when we look at people. Students' See-Stunners may give people something different to focus on (versus skin color, ethnicity, etc).

Display Location: Bacich Art Room