Recycled Art

Do you give any thought to what happens to your copy of The STAR after you’ve read it? Does it line your trashcan, wrap fish in the market, or gather dust in one corner until the dyaryo-bote man comes around?

Here’s one artist who takes tons of old newspapers and transforms the lot into stunning works of art, and at the same time encourage people to become more aware of the environment.

Meet Tes Pasola, the undisputed’“Paper Queen” of the Philippine design world, who was design consultant for the recent 48th edition of Manila F.A.M.E. International, incidentally the iconic trade fair’s 25th year. 

Using design as a tool for a greener environment, the Center for International Trade Expositions (CITEM), organizer of the bi-annual event, put the spotlight on recycling.  But this isn’t the first time CITEM is doing something like this.  In fact, Manila F.A.M.E. International was, perhaps, the first show in Asia to introduce the concept of recycling, way before “going green” became a buzzword in the international design community. 

For many years, its participants and design consultants have been using discarded materials such as scrap metal, wood shavings, eggshells, coconut chips, even abandoned insect colonies, and transforming these into innovative pieces for the home.  And this year, CITEM really showed everyone the many magnificent things one can do with wastes and other bits and pieces with a collection of home items using recycled materials such as anahaw leaves, scrap wood, and coconut twigs. But the highlight of the show is the stunning special setting that used old newspapers – all 4,000 kilos, part of that donated to the artistic endeavor by The Philippine STAR.   

Who else would’ve thought of using paper as a primary material for the centerpiece setting but Tes Pasola, this year’s design consultant for home furnishings.  

Tes has always pushed paper to its limits – playing, experimenting, and exploring its potential.  And even though she has worked with other materials, Tes always goes back to her first love.  This time, she used her favorite medium to express her concern for the environment.  “I’ve always used paper to create unique objects for the home.  But instead of using handmade paper, I thought, why not use old newspapers?  That way, we don’t only make beautiful things for buyers, but we also do our part in saving the environment,” shares the intrepid designer.  

And so she used tons of old newspapers, which were die-cut into millions of donut-shaped pieces, and placed one-by-one around swirly circular metal tubes.  “The idea was to give the setting a forest feel in a very allegorical way.  I didn’t want it to look too literal.  I really went for something weird and odd-looking, something theatrical that would excite the senses.  Most of all, I wanted something that hasn’t been done before,” says Tes about her innovative concept. 

Looking at the setting, you’d know instantly that a lot of work was put into creating the masterpiece.  How many people worked to complete it?  “About 10 million people!” shares Tes with a laugh.  “Since we only had about four or five days to cut the paper, and only about two days to put the whole setting together, we needed all the help we could get.  Wala halos tulugan (we hardly slept), but luckily we finished it on time, and credit should go to the many people who helped,” she says.   

Indeed, hard work pays off.  The setting was beautiful, to say the least.  But did it help in creating awareness about the environment, and was it successful in communicating the importance of recycling?? 

“I hope so,” says Tes.  “If you look around you, you’d see that most of the materials I worked with were natural,’yung iba napupulot lang sa bukid (some of them picked up in the fields), but I was able to turn them into gorgeous pieces for the home.  A lot of the exhibitors have also been doing the same thing for the longest time, but now we should not only be conscious of the materials we use, but also be steadfast in our efforts to use environment-friendly processes, and explore more ways of producing world-class products the ‘green’ way.” 

You may be wondering what CITEM would do with those paper-filled gigantic “tentacles” after the show.  “Recycle them, of course,” announces Joao Miranda of CITEM.  “We already received offers for them, one from a designer who would use it in a soon-to-open specialty store, another from an entrepreneur who would use it as a centerpiece in a hotel lobby.  We’re still negotiating.” 

Whoever buys them, they will surely take pride of place in a working, living, or commercial space somewhere, and would continue to inspire everyone to recycle, recycle, recycle. 

Now, what will you do with this paper after you’ve read it?