The lost and found art

Gareth Nyandoro are finding meaning in “thrash’ and are visually communicating with a wide audience.
Found object art is the direct opposite of subtractive technique like stone sculpture.
Whereas in subtractive sculpture the primary objective is to “free” a visual trapped inside a meaningless block, found object art aims at creating installations and assemblages through putting things together.
But the creative process starts much earlier as the artist sets to find the right material to match a conceptual framework. It is at this point that meanings are reversed such that even if the ambiguity is apparent, the artist has to put a strong argument forward to suggest a transformation difficult to ignore.
The final product can claim a place among various other forms of sculpture because the family that makes up this art form suggests meaning using three-dimensional visuals.
One study available online conducted by a Julie Cooper showed a conclusive proof that found objects art, in addition to its aesthetic appeal, also has the ability to help with therapy for patients.
The study showed that found object art, “facilitated the therapeutic process and enabled thoughts, feelings and memories to be connected to, recognised and processed in a way that I suggest would not have been reached through providing traditional art therapy materials”.
The study was also given credit for helping to progress treatments relating to emotional and mental well-being and enhancing self-expression and self esteem. But the primary goal of found objects art is not found in frequent visits to clinics and hospitals.
It is an extension of the artist’s thought patterns and every finished product carries one or a combination of encoded messages presented before some viewers.
Found object art challenges the viewer to find answers to two pertinent questions. What is it? and What does it mean? Answers to the first question are not so obvious because the viewer has to walk through the same route as the artist when one meaning is manipulated, destroyed or deformed to create a new one. The creative process is mostly organised vandalism and to a first time viewer of the finished product, the lesser meaning is always immediately apparent.
Even with a sometimes severely battered identity, the original meaning is never completely lost. This quality gives found objects art an edge over the more traditional forms of sculpture. The abstraction in found objects art is punctuated by coding systems within it challenging the artist’s new meaning.
When creating an artwork using found objects, the artist constantly battles with socially acceptable, traditional tags in a quest to produce something that is not only new, but original. The less the final product says of the original meanings, the more likely that the artist would have succeeded.
In a way, found object art is a part of rebel art such as graffiti. It rejects the notion of normality and force a new meaning on the already known.
Critics of the art point to the threat of vandalism since the artist needs only to link images formed in the head and whatever is in plain sight to become interested. But most experienced artists use some code of conduct that draws and defines moral, ethical and legal parameters.
A simple, “Well, I found it” is never enough in found object art. A priority is the legal acquisition of material for any artwork. The next stage for a viewer links the work’s title or name to the fresh image that would have assumed a new form or shape, or both.
Found object artists tend to give striking titles to their work. The title is an important part of the work as it is the trigger that gives the viewer clues of a transformation and the first steps towards a latent, yet perceptible meaning.
The rebel nature of found objects art can be traced back to its post World War I origins. The art movement that became known as Dadaism was most prevalent between 1916 and 1923.
It was a direct reaction to the realities of a war that claimed many innocent lives and shattered societal normality. Dadaism became a protest against the barbarism of conflict and the final products made by artists in this bracket showed deliberate irrationality and a rejection of conformity in development of art.
Its principal exponent, Marcel Duchamp, shocked the artworld in 1917 when he took a urinal, signed it and displayed it without making and changes and calling it “The Fountain”.
And in a survey reported by the BBC, the installation was in 2004 voted by a group of art experts to be the most influential piece of modern art.
In found objects art it would appear as if the artist does very little when executing an idea.
The actual labour is minimal, but the convergence of creative thought patterns and seemingly unrelated material to create sculptural products is a unique way of creating that requires expert psyche.
Found objects art started as a rebellion against political and social developments.
It remains a symbol of independence, a form of artistic expression with its own loose guidelines, but working outside the widely accepted universal standards.