Reimagining art in the slow lane

From recycled plastics to industrial remnants, how artists are turning discarded materials into thoughtful forms

- VAISHALI DAR

IN A WORLD grappling with excess—of consumption, waste, and speed—art is quietly slowing things down.

Across contemporary practices, discarded materials are being reworked into thoughtful forms, proving that creativity can be as much about care and responsibility as it is about beauty. From recycled plastics and metal pipes to waste paper and industrial remnants, artists are turning what we throw away into objects that let one reflect on the power of labour, community and hope.

Jaipur-based designer and curator Ayush Kasliwal reimagines the charpai in a large-scale public art installation, The Charpai Project, installed at the India Art Fair. It transforms a humble, everyday object into a shared space for connection.

What the project playfully addresses is all the urgent themes—sustainable habitation, climate consciousness, and the importance of community in increasingly fragmented urban lives. Over time, the project has taken on multiple forms—an arena, a restaurant, a playground—each iteration responding to its site and audience. However, this time, Kasliwal's project takes on a new dimension with digital intervention by Goji, an Al artist, who reinterprets the work through digital stories via screens projected on stacked charpais, echoing the movement and unpredictability of a Snakes and Ladders board.