Upcycling sculpture for a socio-ecological practice of contemporary art.

Abstract

The present article seeks to propose the introduction of the term upcycling sculpture as a concept that defines works that use waste resulting from the technical cycle of industrial production as material for sculpture. We will start by contextualizing the origin of the term ‘upcycling’ and comparing it with the already existing concepts of assemblage, junk art or recycling art, identified as close to the proposed term. Then, the most recent proposals of this sculpture typology will be analysed, as well as its ability to address issues that encompass other areas of knowledge, from sculpture as a social practice to sculpture as a means to materialize a coexistence between man and ecology.

It concludes by underlining the contribution of upcycling sculpture to the practice of contemporary sculpture in the global socio-ecological and economic context where climate change is gaining increasing preponderance, a condition that is given thanks to a coexistence with reality.