Ordinary ☞ Extraordinary

Plastic lawn chairs, scraps of fabric or metal, and even acrylic nails— art can be made of anything! The artists featured here have a special talent for using common items with specific meanings as materials for their artworks. They help us see beauty and value in things most people ignore, opening our eyes to a whole new way of looking at the world. After reading the article and looking at the photographs, consider what ordinary objects you might use in your own art.

Art can be made of anything! Scraps of fabric, plastic lawn chairs, and even artificial nails can be art. The artists featured here use common items as materials. They show us the beauty and meaning in things most people ignore.

Brian Jungen is an Indigenous artist from Canada who makes sculptures out of mass-produced items like sneakers and golf gear. To draw attention to issues he cares deeply about, such as protecting the environment, reducing waste, and preserving his community’s culture, Jungen created Cetology, above, in 2002.

Cetology is the study of marine mammals, including dolphins, whales, and porpoises. This monumental, or very large, sculpture might look like a giant whale skeleton, but Jungen made it using white plastic patio chairs, plastic ties, and screws. Chairs like these are cheap and break easily. What happens to them when they’re no longer functional? How might using plastic chairs in a sculpture representing a whale help Jungen draw attention to issues like reducing waste and protecting the environment?

Brian Jungen is an Indigenous artist from Canada. He makes sculptures out of items that are produced by the millions in factories, like sneakers and golf gear.

Jungen cares about protecting nature and reducing waste. To highlight these issues, he created Cetology (above) in 2002. The sculpture is monumental, or very large. It looks like a giant whale skeleton. But Jungen made it out of white plastic patio chairs! Chairs like these are cheap and break easily. Think about Jungen’s choice to use the chairs in his sculpture. How might it help him draw attention to the issues he cares about?

Some object’s meaning might not be obvious. At first glance, Background Noise: Can You Hear Me? #3, above, might seem like a typical decorative figurine. But there’s more to the 2023 sculpture by American artist Justin Dougan-LeBlanc. He chose to explore this figure because it holds meaning from his childhood experiences as a person who is deaf.

Dougan-LeBlanc recalls encountering objects like this in doctors offices in the 1980s and ’90s. Mechanical chimps similar to this one played the cymbals they held, making a loud noise to assess childhood deafness. The artist could not hear them and didn’t react. His lack of response to this inanimate object was the beginning of a journey that has defined his identity. By revisiting and embellishing this symbol, Dougan-LeBlanc invites viewers to understand his experience more deeply, adding a layer of beauty to an object with a complicated personal history.

The sculpture above is called Background Noise: Can You Hear Me? #3. It might look like a toy to you. But there’s a lot more to it than that. The work was made by American artist Justin Dougan-LeBlanc during 2023 and 2024. He chose this figure because it reminds him of his experiences as a person who is deaf. As a kid, Dougan-LeBlanc saw mechanical chimps like this at doctors’ offices. They were used to test his hearing. The toys crashed their cymbals together, making a loud noise. But the artist couldn’t hear them, so he didn’t react. That was how doctors knew he was deaf.

It was the beginning of a lifelong journey for Dougan-LeBlanc. By using and embellishing this symbol, he invites viewers to understand his experience. He adds a layer of beauty to an object he has complicated feelings about.