apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/at-europe/junk-chandeliers-paris--066904

nothing like beating a dead horse.

thanks for pointing that out, gideon. i just added the link.

Heath Nash.

Why should I want this? It's hideous.

Just.
Say.
No.

I'm going to make a lamp from a box of Cheez-its. It's going to be a big hit on AT!

Sometimes "Recycle" is better than "Reuse."

you know what this is?

...it's dale chihouli in plastics...

as an art installation, it's cute...for about a week, tops

smiley

You know what this reminds me of? I think most of us remember primary grade school projects which involved the teacher sending a note to bring in a ... piece of garbage, like an oatmeal carton or gallon milk jug for projects like birdfeeders and piggy banks. Unless your mother saved everything, ultimately that stuff is still trash with a little activity in the middle involving white glue and tempera paints.

I think if schools did a unit on recycling and ecology, and asked students to bring in some cleaned out, brightly colored container bound for the trash (or even the recycling), a hands-on art project as a community/classroom effort might make something like this all the better, better than "artistes" selling their ironic efforts at home and lifestyle stores, being called clever and stuff.

Google "garbage art" "junk art" or "trash art" for finer examples. I am tired of seeing stupid stuff made of plastic hangers and dish detergent containers being called to our attention instead of something worth a look. DIY-themed ideas are really a whole lot of crafts for children to make that parents usually smile at and then shove the homely thing to the back of the closet.

dust dust cobweb dust dead bugs dust

it's missing a doll's head. Points for the tire, though.
(ugh)

I think it's interesting. I think if you stuck to a single kind of "junk". I think an entire piece of colorful drink glasses could look quite nice.

This is a jaded bunch...

No objection to junk art but I think the other ones were better.

But I take umbrage at the DIY hate. It doesn't *have* to be kids' stuff. Just because this is a poor example doesn't mean everything DIY will suck.

it is like your trash can threw up on the ceiling.

I'm not against all DIY, whytephoenix. I'm against taking something terrible and suggesting it would be a great idea to copy this as a DIY. I also think people are "craft" snobs, as per a topic on Jessica Jones' "What About Orange" blog. She has a lot of cute and fun and quick ideas for decor, among other uplifting designs that she makes, and makes a living at. However, there was a topic last year where she was rejecting the term "craft" to mean the ugly stuff like yarn tissue box cozies and tacky things. This was as she preferred the "higher art" term of DIY for things like covering a soup can with a piece of felt for a pencil cup, and making a little note pad out of scrap paper. I'd hope for better ideas here than something nobody does past the 2nd grade here at AT.

Not everything has to be complicated, but some things can be so complicated as to be inspirational. I don't see much of that around here, and fairly a lot of how not to throw out your garbage (contradictory to many ideals also preached on this site) and make it into a fabulous eyesore. I understand repurposing, and putting certain items of trash to use when you can't or would rather not buy something new that can do the same thing. But what is this trash mobile?

I really liked the one last month with the junk mail. I've looked at several projects that might not be my taste, but seemed like not a waste of time. I don't think crafts are or have to be tacky or done by children, or made for children to do (or stereotypical old maid cat lady or whatever), leaving the term 'DIY' to chic and capable young adults. There doesn't seem to be anyone in charge of filtering out these worse ideas or encouraging bloggers to go out there and bring back more special examples that readers would really like to try. Over and over again, this repurposing garbage into a larger entity of several garbages seems like the best idea they can come up with. Comments bear this is not very popular with the readers!

It looks like those plastic necklaces in grade school that had the plastic charms of ordinary things like irons, skateboards, baseball bats, all made of different colors of plastic like this and you were supposed to collect them all but even back in grade school, I was like, it's junk.

But still, I am oddly drawn to it. It'd be good for a warehouse or other industrial space as shown here.

They say when junk becomes art it's the first sign that civlization is in decline.

Just sayin'!

TOXIC CHEMICALS ARE RELEASED FROM PLASTICS-ESPECIALLY WHEN HEATED. Dioxene for example!!! There is a direct link between autoimmune diseases( ie:MS, Sjogrens, Lupus plus about a hundred others) and dioxene.

Try not to use plastics but if you must, recycle and get it out of your house. Think glass and reuse whenever possible rather thhnan buying the same think over and over-

plus it's ugly not good for you either-lol

Not enjoying the trend happening on AT lately what with junk like this. It's a shame. For design/storage/streamlining/budget/theme tips I'm finding myself having to do manual searches over getting what I seek/could use by perusing the daily posts. Tired junk chandelier ideas, lame and cheap wall hooks, etc.. it's all becoming more and more disheartening.

The downward spiral became evident I'd say a little less than a year ago. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.

When I see crap posts like this I just think either there are no ideas left, the bloggers don't know how to find the great ideas anymore, or these posts are meant to garner huffy traffic (or all of the above) from folks like me. I'm sure lots of people have clicked on this post out of shock that it's even here than with actual curiosity over the chandelier. Congrats for getting the hits but damn, can we have our website back?

KTG--didn't any of these people ever learn one of the definitions of "kitsch": hand spoiled? I totally agree.

Peahen--you are so right, but the taste level of the various city sites varies greatly. Do you read the LA one--it's pathetic, and the Austin entries are all junk.

I understand that AT wants to encourage personal creativity and not just shopping in the readership, but I'd rather see fewer posts of higher quality.

And why not some posts by the contest winners? Or Q & As with them--we can see they've got taste.