A papier-m+â-óch+â-¬ decorated couch spills an array of suckers, gum, Lemonheads and Reese's onto the floor. A concrete sofa creases and bulges like a worn, lumpy cushion. A tower of plywood and springs stretch like a curbside sculpture in the middle of an art gallery. Piece by piece artists, architects, professors and students have transformed one man's trash into every man's treasure.
Couched Construction, created by Wes Janz, is a project that takes unwanted items and gives them a new purpose through sculpture and architecture. But this isn't just modern art to the Ball State professor of architecture, this represents possibilities.
"This project has brought about the notion that there are possibilities in everything. There's a tremendous amount of stuff we put on the curb for others to haul away," Janz said. "But the fact is that the millions of things we throw away still have potential and use, and we have to think, 'What does this mean to us?'"
Janz's project is inspired by a trip he took to Asia a decade ago. There, Janz said he saw those in poverty using what supplies they could to make shelters, some composed completely of landfill materials.
"The base inspiration of the project comes from some of the poorest towns I've ever been in," Janz said. "These people are self-builders."
When he arrived back in Indianapolis, he began photographing couches and other items that people put out on garbage day. Couches became a constructional focus because how strong they are and their sentimentality.
"Couches are sturdy and good building tools. I mean, if drunk guys in frats have a hard time breaking them, then they are pretty strong," Janz said. "Couches are recognizable. They're a part of everyone's life. Everyone has slept on a couch, spilled on one, had sex on a couch, you eat on them, grow up on them. These couches were important members of the family they belonged to, and I don't want to diminish the meaning they had."
March 2 was the opening of the Couched Constructions exhibit at the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis. More than a dozen pieces were featured. Ana de Brea, an associate professor of architecture, said she was surprised by the work shown at the exhibit.
"It was interesting to see the different approaches of the artists to each piece," she said. "One approach was to reconstruct a couch from an old one and another was to create a different thing all together. It was a question of how do you repurpose something using the same materials?"
The event included a Found Object Workshop, where participants were given certain salvaged items to create new usable objects are abstract art.
Junior architecture majors Christopher Reinhart and Nick Wissing were given an array of umbrellas to work with in a span of three hours.
"It was interesting because when you start tearing stuff apart, you see how it works and how to utilize it in different ways," Wissing said. "It was really neat when [de Brea] took the canvas off of the umbrellas and crocheted it into a tarp."
Junior architecture major Kathleen Gessinger created a backpack from an old golf bag. She said this could be an apt representation of the future.
"The project reinforced my ideas that we are a wasteful country. All of these random things we throw away have more to do than sit in a landfill," she said. "We were just talking in a class on how eventually, we will end up mining our landfills to reuse things we once threw away."
But these students aren't waiting for that day, they're already focused on thrifty living.
"There's definitely a stigma about dumpster diving," Wissing said. "People only picture homeless people doing it, but being on campus for three years and being broke has taught us how to utilize everything. It's surprising how many people do it, actually."
Junior architecture major William Stark said he can identify with Janz's driving inspiration.
"Our ultimate goal is finding ways to help people in third world countries," Stark said. "When you tell someone from a country like that that you go to Lowe's or Home Depot, they're like, 'Why?' They use what they need to survive."
Some people agree that popular culture urges people to buy what they don't need and throw the old away - yet a movement of sustainability and green living is taking hold. But there's an under-lying trend to be seen that stretches back to the basics of civilization.
"I would say the trend is the fact that we've experienced a time period where wastefulness was the tendency within the past couple decades and now we are seeing that and realizing that needs to change," Reinhart said. "We've always been re-using things as a means to survive."
Janz said he is ultimately looking ahead, citing that there is an estimated 12,000 homes in Indianapolis are abandoned. He has recently constructed a garage from re-used timber pallets, which he said may be the first permanent building in the U.S. with a building permit made from reused items. He said he plans to open source the drawing of the structure to non-profit organizations that work with poorer neighborhoods. His work continues, but to him, he said it's something to fight for. De Brea shared something her mother had told her, "That 'no' is everywhere. You need to fight for 'yes.'"
"Me throwing a discarded couch in the back of my truck," Janz said. "That's me saying, 'Yes.'"
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