Waste Land
Type
Audio/Visual
Authors
Category
Art, Documentary Film
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Publication Year
2011
Publisher
Almega Projects, United States
URL
[ private ]
Duration
99 minutes
Subject
Muniz, Vik. Trash art. Ragpickers. Sanitary landfills . Poor. Brazil -- Rio de Janeiro -- Social conditions. Found objects (Art) Group work in art. Recycling.
Tags
Abstract
Brooklyn based artist Vik Muniz grew up poor in Brazil. This film follows him as he returns to Rio de Janeiro, specifically to Jardim Gramacho, or "Garbage Garden." The world's largest landfill, it receives 7,000 tons daily, an astonishing 70% of all Rio's garbage. "We are not pickers of garbage; we are pickers of recyclable materials," says Tião, a catadore, or trash picker who thinks of himself and his fellows as environmentalists. The pickers have a union, which has built a recycling center, medical clinic, day care and skills-training centers, and community lending library of discarded books for their members. Muniz photographs a number of the pickers, reworks the photographs with garbage, and auctions several in London. Believing in the transformative power of art, Muniz donates the proceeds to the pickers who posed, in recognition of their lives, in honor of the dignity of their work.
Description
1 videodisc (ca. 99 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in.
Soundtrack in English or Portuguese, with optional English or French subtitles.
Soundtrack in English or Portuguese, with optional English or French subtitles.
Biblio Notes
Kanopy Streaming:
https://swccd.kanopystreaming.com/video/waste-land-0
https://swccd.kanopystreaming.com/video/waste-land-0
Number of Copies
1
RELATED ITEMS
REVIEWS (1) -
Administrator
This film is a hit with students, they really respond both to the personal stories that unfold throughout the film and the relationship that Muniz builds with his subjects. It is a great film for discussing the process of enlarging images, using found materials and working collaboratively.
8 years ago