A giant orb weaving spider is welcoming visitors to Wollongong Art Gallery and into a unique ecosystem that has bloomed inside.
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He’s part of a rainforest made entirely from trash, created by more than 1100 volunteers of young and old.
The Frugal Forest exhibition was made to highlight how everything in a forest is recycled, even the soundtrack was created entirely from waste materials.
Creative director Bryony Anderson said the idea was sparked after thinking about how the world’s finite resources are turned into “problematic waste”.
“Right now, zero waste as a way of operating seems like an impossible prospect. But looking at an ecosystem like a rainforest is a working model of a zero waste system which is treating every bit of waste as an opportunity for something new,” she said.
“Everything is cycled endlessly back through the system … I think there are so many lessons to be learned from that.”
Ms Anderson said various community groups took part in the positive project including daycare centres, school groups, musicians, scientists, craft lovers and dementia patients.
She said it became quite a humbling experience, especially working with older members of the community, and the importance for people to feel connected and useful to society.
“Some of the retention of memory was the strongest [their carers] had seen,” Ms Anderson said.
A rainforest is ... treating every bit of waste as an opportunity for something new.
- Bryony Anderson
“I worked with one group once a month for a year, and they were recognising me when I came in and remembering bits of the project, and that doesn’t usually happen.
“The [carers] were ascribing it to the fact people felt like they were being useful and contributing to something … whereas most of their day, as a dementia patient, is just filling their time.”
She hopes visitors to the exhibition will walk away filled with positivity about the future of the environment.
Wollongong is the sixth city to host the Frugal Forest. It’s scheduled to go to the Sydney Opera House later this year.
For more information visit: www.wollongongartgallery.com