Junk Rethunk recycled art at Philadephia Zoo

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Trash that has been reinvented as conservation-minded art has taken over the paths in the Philadelphia Zoo.

A 35-foot, 9,000 pound tree with butterflies made from motorcycle tires greets visitors while a pair of 300-pound polar bear cubs fashioned from used spark plugs cavort around the Zoo’s sign.

Throughout the park, visitors find a pink crocodile molded from wads of used chewing gum, a rhinoceros fashioned of old silver-plated platters and giant blue gorilla made from recycled car doors.

“It’s a very unconventional new art exhibit,” says Vikram Dewan, president and ceo of the zoo. “It brings to life our zoo’s mission of connecting people to nature through this unpredicted transformation.”

The exhibit called “Second Nature: Junk Rethunk” is made up of large scale installations by 12 artists from around the globe. The pieces tell stories of endangered animals through the use of recycled materials.

Calling the artists “some of the world’s most creative conservation heroes,” Dewan says many of the pieces are larger than life-sized interpretations of species future generations of zoo visitors may never see if something isn’t done to preserve habitat.

“This will certainly be a spectacle of magnificent, colorful art work throughout the Zoo, but it’s also a reminder that there are many ways to reduce, reuse and recycle to positively impact wildlife,” he says.

Philadelphia artist Leo Sewell, who created a found object sculpture of a life-size replica of the Statue of Liberty's arm and torch for Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum, created a replica of a white rhinoceros which he describes as a “symbol of extinction.”

He says he usually does sculptures of animals and hopes the exhibit shows children “things exist” and gives them an alternative to throwing things away.

“This is a clever idea of connecting art and conservation,” says Michael DiBerardinis, Philadelphia deputy mayor for environmental and community resources. “The world is at a critical point. If we don’t build a d a constituency around sustainability, we are in trouble. Connecting young people to this idea of nature, art and conservation and turning that into action an important piece. This exhibit turns it into exciting family friendly zoo experience.”

The McNeil Avian Center serves as a centerpiece for several of the installations. A pair of 9-foot-tall hot pink rabbits made from recycled plastic by the Cracking Art Group of Italy stand guard over the swan boats gliding around Bird Lake in front of the center and a trio of orange meerkats made by the same artists greet visitors at the center’s entrance.

Inside an abstract overhead sculpture made from 3,000 discarded plastic bags by New York artist Aurora Robson, hangs from the ceiling above the chewing gum crocodile made by Italian artist Maurizio Savini.

A short walk away the 13-foot-tall blue, 900 pound gorilla made by Don Kennell, an artist from Santa Fe, NM, Gazes forlornly into space holding a car door in its hand.

“I’m always amazed at the startling abundance of produced material that are simply cast adrift,” Kennell says. He says his goal was to turn some of “this detritus back into a social conversation.”

Other installations include 9-foot-tall gorilla made of recycle cardboard by Laurence Vallieres of Montreal, Canada and 10 sculptures of owls, hummingbirds and goats made from recycled machine and electronics parts by Ann Smith Larson of Rhode Island.

A piece by Netherlands artist Diet Wiegman that depicts Rodin’s “The Thinker” contemplating a gorilla skull is a shadow that is created from projecting a light over recycled electronics parts and Diem Chau, of Seattle, Washington, used Crayola crayons to carve images of 24 endangered species. Wildlife photography by Gerry Ellis of Portland, Oregon, also will be on display in the Peco Primate Reserve as part of the exhibit. Australian artist James Corbett created the spark plug polar bear cubs.

PK Kimelman, founding director of Flux Foundation of San Francisco, which created the giant tree sculpture “Bloom” at the entrance to the zoo, says the project changed the way the artists at his studio approach their work.

"It made us really creatively think about what we have, and not letting things go to waste,” he says. “That was something new for us. Now we think how can we reuse and repurpose apiece from conception to demise.”

He says the massive tree was made from building materials and car parts.

“We thought how could we create beauty using discarded elements that no one thought was beautiful,” he says.

The artists scoured their neighborhood gathering used bumpers and car hoods from auto body shops, old HVAC duct work and old traffic lights.

“Cars really impact the environment,” he says.

The bumpers were cut up to become bees, the traffic light lens became milkweed flowers, along with the tire Monarch butterflies. Road plates became the base for the piece.

“We literally are leaving no trace behind on the zoo,” he adds.