eco-art for change
Anne Cummings
Vermont Wastescapes
In the quest to justify my creation of art and meld it with my environmental convictions, Vermont Wastescapes was born. This series was a six year journey to create a monumental work using exclusively re-cycled, re-claimed, and re-purposed materials, and to raise awareness of the volume of human waste we create, and its toll on places of natural beauty, even in a state considered as “green” as Vermont. With the intent of minimizing the carbon footprint of traveling the state for artistic purposes, the materials used to create Vermont Wastescapes were collected during planned professional and personal visits to each county in the state.
The images are composite compositions based on photographs taken of natural areas hidden on the back roads of Vermont, which intentionally include no manmade features. There are fourteen counties in Vermont, and each piece of Vermont Wastescapes represents the county from which the materials were gathered; both in its shape, and the distinctive nature of the “garbage” gathered there. Interestingly, the human detritus of each county exhibits its own unique characteristics, just as the local flora and fauna do. This can be discerned by closely examining the fragments of material composing each natural image, which disaggregate into recognizable icons of human society.
 May Pond Loon Chick100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Orleans County, Vermont |  Rock River Spruce and Maples100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Windham County, Vermont |
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 White River Oaks100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Windsor County, Vermont |  Installing VT Wastescapes at Main Street |
 Mad River Frost100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Washington County, Vermont |  Emerald Lake Reflections100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected Bennington County, Vermont |
 Emerald Lake ReflectionsBennington County (detail) |  Vermont WastescapesInstallation View of All 14 Vermont Counties 100% Post-Consumer Waste from each county Installed dimensions: 3 1/2 ft. wide at top, 12 ft. high. |
 New Haven Mist100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Addison County, Vermont |  Providence Island Sunset100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Grand Isle County, Vermont |
 Grand Isle detail |  Burke Mountain Beaver Chew100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Caledonia County, Vermont |
 Westford Falls and Ferns100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Chittenden County, Vermont |  100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Essex County, Vermont |
 October Tamarack100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Orange County, Vermont |  Little Rock Pond Lady Slipper100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Rutland County, Vermont |
 Little Rock Pond Lady SlipperRutland County (detail) |  Snow-Capped Mount Mansfield100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Lamoille County, Vermont |
 High Water on the Lamoille River100% Post-Consumer Waste Collected from Franklin County, Vermont |