‘Trash People’ take a stand on the Grand’Place

1 April 2005

BRUSSELS – One thousand figures made from rubbish are lining Brussels’ Grand’Place until Monday.

The ‘Trash People’ are the work of the German environmental artist HA Schult who created them from glass jars, aerosol cans, computer parts, tins, Coca Cola bottles and other waste.

He disinfected the rubbish and glued it into human, life-size shapes using a polyurethane mousse.

“We live in a period of waste,” Schult told the Belgian press on Friday.

“We produce waste and will become waste. The ‘Trash People’ are the reflection of our image. Like runaways from the age of the consumer, they wander on this planet that we are filling up with waste.”

Schult chose Belgium’s World Heritage-listed square to be the latest venue in a world tour of the art project.
He picked the square because it’s one of his favourite locations and because Brussels is the heart of Europe, where decision-makers could affect the future of the planet.

“The Trash People are travellers,” he said.

“They move around in around 15 containers, from country to country. Every country is affected by the same problem of the destruction of the environment.”

The Trash People have already been exhibited on the Great Wall of China, on Moscow’s Red Square, at the Grande Arche de la Defense in Paris, at Gizeh’s pyramids and at a lake in the Alps with an altitude of 2,800m.

After Brussels the work heads to London, New York, Santiago and to its final destination, the Antartic.

Schulter is one of the most famous proponents of ‘Action Art’ which takes art to public places.

His Brussels visit was backed by the city’s mayor Henri Simons and the art gallery Artiscope, which is also showing a series of photos of the Trash People tour at Galerie Bortier until 9 April (55 Rue de la Madeleine, Wednesday to Saturday, 1-6 pm.)

[Copyright Expatica 2005]

Subject: Belgian news