Outskirts

Volunteers Take Center Stage In Trailer Restoration

July 21, 2011Spartan TrailerAdvisory Role, Angeles National Forest, Breen, Calarts, Center Stage, Closets, Coyote, CSPA, Kyoto University, Lizards, Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Reactor, Outskirts, Plywood, Restoration Project, Santa Clarita, Spartan, Trailer Restoration, Trailer Trash, Wooden Strips

Sam and his cousin Sasuke make templates for plywood that will be used to cover the walls and ceiling.

With graduation over, work on the Trailer Trash restoration has heated up. Â The 1951 Spartan Royal Mansion left itâ€™s CalArts home on June 15 and was towed 10 miles to a canyon on the the outskirts of Santa Clarita, where lizards and coyote are almost as plentiful as motorcycles rushing to the Angeles National Forest.

In June, Samâ€™s cousin, Sasuke, came from Japan to help out. Â A recent graduate in geology from Kyoto University, Â he spent a month working with Sam inside the trailer. Â (Sasuke has an interest in nuclear energy and hekept us posted on recent happenings at the Fukushima nuclear reactor.)

The task at hand was to the walls and ceiling. Â First, Sasuke attached wooden strips to along the ribs where the cabinets and closets will eventually be installed. Then he fashioned carboard templates which will be used as a pattern for the plywood that will cover the walls. The job isnâ€™t Â as easy as it looks; it requires lots of measuring, precision and patience. Â Although he had little building experience, it is hard to imagine how Sam would have gotten the job done without Sasukeâ€™s help!

If you are considering volunteering your time with The Trailer Trash Project, this slideshow might show you the kind of work weâ€™re involved with now:Â

This post is part of a series documenting Sam Breen’a Spartan Restoration Project. Please see his first post here and check out the archive here. The CSPA is helping Sam by serving in an advisory role, offering modest support and featuring Sam’s Progress by syndicating his feed from http://spartantrailerrestoration.wordpress.com as part of our CSPA Supports Program.

Hot Times at the Silver Bullet

July 19, 2011Spartan TrailerAdvisory Role, Angeles National Forest, Breen, Calarts, Cardboard, Coyote, CSPA, Geology, Hot Times, Kyoto University, Lizards, Outskirts, Restoration Project, Santa Clarita, Sasuke, Silver Bullet, Spartan, Studs, Trailer Trash, Wooden Strips

Samâ€™s cousin, Sasuke Breen, came from Japan to help out. Â A recent graduate in geology from Kyoto University, Â he spent a month helping Sam get ready to install the walls and ceiling. Â He crafted and installed wooden strips to reinforce the studs on the walls and ceiling. Â Â Then he made cardboard templates for the walls and ceiling â€“ not as easy as it looks. The job requires lots of measuring and patience. Â Itâ€™s hard to imagine how the job would have gotten done would have gotten done without Sasukeâ€™s help.Â

This post is part of a series documenting Sam Breen’a Spartan Restoration Project. Please see his first post here and check out the archive here. The CSPA is helping Sam by serving in an advisory role, offering modest support and featuring Sam’s Progress by syndicating his feed from http://spartantrailerrestoration.wordpress.com as part of our CSPA Supports Program.

Watch the Trailer for Waste Land, a Documentary About Beauty and Trash

November 19, 2010newsAlchemy, Countdown To Zero, Despair, Dignity, Eclectic Band, Garbage Dump, Human Spirit, Initial Objective, Journeys, Landfill, Lucy Walker, Native Brazil, Outskirts, Peek, Photographic Images, Recyclable Materials, Redemptive Power, Rio De Janeiro, Subculture, Transformative Power

WASTE LAND Official Trailer from Almega Projects on Vimeo.

Jardim Gramacho, outside of Rio, is the world’s largest landfill. In a new documentary calledÂ Waste Land, Vik Muniz, a Brazilian-born, Brooklyn-based artist, returns to create portraits, made from the trash itself, of the so-called “catadores” who work there.

It looks like an interesting peek at a subculture you’re not likely to be exposed to otherwise, a helpful reminder that we’re creating incredible volumes of trash, and a nice example of the redemptive power of art.

Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores” — self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. Director Lucy Walker (DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, BLINDSIGHT, COUNTDOWN TO ZERO) has great access to the entire process and, in the end, offers stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.