featured artist + resource

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss is the first of a series of books being featured by Stuff that are relevant to its mission of environmental awareness, creative reuse, and education. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax is a children’s story about protecting the environment. Seuss creates a fantastic place in his imaginative world to teach children about environmental themes, including pollution, consumerism, greed, and protecting natural resources. The Lorax is an indescribably curious creature that speaks for the trees that have been cut down in the story, magically popping out of a stump. The Once-ler, the nemesis of the Lorax, is another creature that cuts down all the trees in the town and uses the silk-like leaves to knit Thneeds. The Once-ler sells his Thneeds for a profit and soon he becomes greedy and cuts the trees en masse. Before long the Lorax is forced to represent not only the trees but other creatures who are affected by the Once-ler’s ever expanding business and clear-cutting of the trees. It becomes a typical tree-hugger that is treated with disdain by the Once-ler. As all the other creatures leave this magical place and Once-ler’s business grows bigger and BIGGER, the images become darker and uglier. The moral to The Lorax is that unless each individual takes responsibility for their environment and natural resources, nothing will get better. 

If The Lorax caught your child’s attention (or be honest, your own), the magic continues in the animated short video I found on youtube below.

This month's featured artist is Jason Mecier. Mecier’s “junkdrawer” works are made out of collected stuff arranged into mosaics of famous international stars and celebrities. His celebrity works are well-known by celebrities, artists, and pop culture experts. Stuff is a fan of Mecier’s work because it embodies the concept of creative reuse in a fun way. The artist reuses everday items such as household cleaning products, collections, shoes, toys, almost everything. My favorite celebrity mosaic is of Rue McClanahan just because I adore Golden Girls. But all of Mecier’s attention to detail and pop culture in general is illustrated in his works. For example, the mosaic of Kathy Griffin with the Clay Aiken background truly highlights Griffin’s stated love of the gay community and many references to Aiken. And I love the hot sauce in the background of Margaret Cho's mosaic.

Another distinctive characteristic of Mecier’s work is how he challenges and solicits his fans and audience to get involved by sending him their junk treasures. The beauty of contributing to such entertaining work is that it diverts waste from landfills, creating a piece that speaks to consumerism but also celebrity pop culture. Mecier asks for individuals to send in their junk and simultaneously “clean house” to:
GRANNYS
c/o Jason Mecier
575 Guerrero St
San Francisco, CA 94110
Check out his website for more of his work in his online gallery! 

-Elisabeth