For time immemorial, human beings have generated trash ... lots and lots of trash. And from the aqueducts and municipal dumps of ancient times to the massive landfills of today, we’ve tried all kinds of ways to get rid of it. However, when trash makes its way into the right hands, it can be turned from mere waste into something imaginative and daring. Creative folks around the world have seen old materials as more than just their previous lives, looking instead to their futures.
These works show the truth of that age-old statement: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” With materials ranging from old cars to scrap metal to glass bottles and discarded beach chairs, artists have gone above and beyond to reimagine how waste is thought about and used. Some projects, like a giant whale made out of polyethylene in New Mexico, are direct calls to action to reduce our footprint on the Earth. Others, such as a homestead full of sculptures built from ship parts, were simply designed on a whim by their creators. All of them showcase the innate power of outsider art to surprise and inspire us.
What Is Recycled Art?
Also called upcycled or eco-art, this practice involves turning everyday waste like plastic, glass, metal, textiles, and paper into creative works. Materials that would normally end up in landfills are, instead, transformed into imaginative forms that compel us to rethink our ideas of worth and beauty.
Sculpture Material Location Notable Feature Tire Sculptures of Breighner's Tire Center Tires, coat hangers, turf Littlestown, Pennsylvania Large animal sculptures including a lion and fire-breathing dragon Frontera Sculpture Oasis Scavenged and donated materials Luna County, New Mexico Sculpture garden in the Chihuahuan Desert Rainbow Sea Container Sea containers Fremantle, Australia Nine containers forming a 29-foot-tall rainbow arch The Swimmer - Traces of Man Discarded chairs, parasols, beach trash Skanör med Falsterbo, Sweden Sculpture highlighting the environmental impact of discarded goods Volkswagen Spider Sculpture Volkswagen Beetle and metal Palm Springs, California 28-foot-tall spider The Raven's Nest Scrap metal and old ship parts Reykjavik, Iceland Evolving sculpture park with Viking warriors and other figures Schaefer's Auto Art Reused automobiles Erie, Pennsylvania Roadside sculptures made from reimagined cars Blenko Man Recycled Blenko glass Weston, West Virginia Sculpture made from collected glass Ernesto Che Guevara Statue Scrap iron and mechanical parts El Alto, Bolivia 30-foot-tall statue made from engines, cogs, and wheels Árbol de la Sidra Glass cider bottles Gijón, Spain Monument made from cider bottles Ethyl the Whale Recycled polyethylene Santa Fe, New Mexico 82-foot-long recycled plastic sculpture Recycled Roadrunner Statue Shoes, cell phones, bike parts, and other recycled materials Las Cruces, New Mexico 20-foot-tall roadrunner
1. Tire Sculptures of Breighner’s Tire Center 📍 Littlestown, Pennsylvania
When Noah Russell, an employee at Breighner’s Tire Center, was challenged by his boss to build a tire float for a local parade, he created a massive lion that won first place. Riding this high, he entered the following year with an eight-foot-tall, fire-breathing dragon made out of coat hangers, turf tires, and a can of bucane.(Unsurprisingly, he won again.)
Russell followed these creations with an intricate headless horseman, a horned stag, and a reef with several aquatic animals. Along with the two prize-winning creatures, these spectacles now sit in front of Breighner’s storefront, where they’ve become a favorite landmark for people traveling along Hanover Pike.
2. Frontera Sculpture Oasis 📍 Luna County, New Mexico
This unique sculpture garden sits in the middle of the Chihuahuan desert, right on the U.S./Mexico border. Artist Taras Mychalewych created the work as a tribute to Mother Earth after his car blew up in the very same desert while he was on a cross-country drive.
The garden’s makeshift biosphere is formed out of scavenged and donated materials, from bricks to bottles, and was designed to mingle with the surrounding agave and cholla. One colorful display represents a regional mariachi band, welcoming people to the borderlands, while another portion feels directly inspired by Los Angeles’s Watts Towers. In its entirety, the isolated oasis acts as an ode to nature’s bounty but also a warning to those who have defiled it in the name of profit.
3. Rainbow Sea Container 📍 Fremantle, Australia
Situated between two bridges in a Perth suburb, this colorful sculpture pays homage to the area’s rich history as an industrial port. Locally nicknamed “The Containbow,” the nine sea containers are assembled into a striking, 29-foot-tall arch that can be spotted far and wide. Perth artist Marcus Cannin painted the containers all shades of the rainbow to recognize Fremont’s recently revitalized creative scene.
4. Badaren - Spår av Mänsklighet (The Swimmer - Traces of Man) 📍 Skanör med Falsterbo, Sweden
Nearly 200 discarded chairs and parasols, plus heaps of trash from nearby beaches, form this sculpture in a parking lot in southern Sweden. The installation serves as a reminder of the impact a single individual’s actions can have on the environment. Every single step of the lifecycle of the goods, from manufacturing to shipping and destruction, leaves an impact.
5. Volkswagen Spider Sculpture 📍 Palm Springs, California
This giant metal spider with a Volkswagen Beetle body stands outside Hole in the Wall, a former auto repair shop that’s now a hub of delightful desert eccentricity. The 28-foot-tall beast was built by Robert Miner, the shop’s longtime owner, who eventually moved onto the property and installed a treehouse/lookout tower (bedecked with spider/web motifs, naturally).
6. The Raven’s Nest 📍 Reykjavik, Iceland
On the outskirts of Iceland’s capital stand mammoth sculptures of discarded scrap metal, constantly evolving as new pieces are added. These are the work of Icelandic filmmaker Hrafn Gunnlaugsson, who bought the oceanside property in 1977 and immediately began transforming it into a surreal sculpture park.
“I was given the name Hrafn. That means raven, I think it goes with the name: Ravens like to collect things. Maybe I can blame the habit on my name,” Hafrn said of his unique hobby.
Gunnlaugsson’s home (itself a work of art) sits at the center of the site, looking out onto rusty Viking warriors, deities from around the world, totem poles formed from old ship parts, and a giant eyeball made out of a buoy.
7. Schaefer’s Auto Art 📍 Erie, Pennsylvania
For over 25 years, this roadside attraction has charmed visitors with its folksy sculptures, depicting everything from a bumblebee to an “automan” to a two-headed dinosaur. With these reimagined automobiles, Erie local Richard Schaefer has turned an otherwise quiet country road into a must-see attraction.
8. Blenko Man 📍 Weston, West Virginia
When the Museum of American Glass reopened in 2007 in a new location, this silica fellow became its mighty mascot. Rock Wilson, an avid collector of Blenko glass, commissioned renowned sculptor John Zidek to turn his collection into a tribute to West Virginia’s once-ubiquitous industry. Thus, Blenko Man was born.
As guardian and greeter for the museum, Blenko Man oversees a vast collection of practically every type of glass item imaginable, from a five-foot-tall stained glass dollhouse to a marble made in the first century AD. While he does, in fact, have two right feet (a manufacturing quirk in the original glassware used), this has just made him all the more iconic.
9. Ernesto Che Guevara Statue 📍 El Alto, Bolivia
In the very country where Che Guevara met his demise stands a 30-foot-tall statue of the dictator made out of engines, cogs, wheels, and other mechanical spare parts. Sculptor Felix Duran imbued the work with two unique features: First, Guevara is depicted stomping on a bald eagle (a clear allusion to his anti-American sentiments). Second, his face is distinctly indigenous. This latter choice has been interpreted in different ways; some view it as a cultural tribute, while others see it as the appropriation of local identity.
10. Árbol de la Sidra 📍 Gijón, Spain
Asturias, an autonomous community in northern Spain, is known for its traditional tart apple cider, served with great finesse at the region’s many sidrerías. In 2013, this artistic homage to the boozy beverage was unveiled in Gijón, where it is illuminated each night by a large lamp inside of it. According to a plaque near the sculpture, this unusual monument is a nod to the tree of life, as well as a visual representation of how natural resources can be preserved by reusing everyday objects.
11. Ethyl the Whale 📍 Santa Fe, New Mexico
At 82 feet long, this friendly whale holds the Guinness World Record for largest recycled plastic sculpture. Named for her polyethylene body, she was designed by two San Francisco artists, Yustina Salnikova and Joel Stockdill, to spread awareness of the negative impact plastics have on the environment.
Originally built for California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium, she was acquired by the New-Mexico-based art collective Meow Wolf in 2019 and transported to the middle of the desert, where she still receives many excited visitors.
12. Recycled Roadrunner Statue 📍 Las Cruces, New Mexico
At a scenic rest area, this massive roadrunner perches on a boulder, gazing over the city below. The sculpture is a whopping 20 feet tall and composed of old shoes, cell phones, bike parts, and other recycled materials. Designed by local artist Olin Calk in 1993, it first stood at the local landfill to draw attention to our poor consumption habits.