meredith cutler :: arts marketing :: artist

It must be in part my starving artist background that has provided me with the drive and enjoyment for finding creative ways to upcycle found materials in my own artwork, as well as fostered a sharp eye for methods with which to keep my own household's footprint as small as possible. Even with the everyday efforts of like-minded citizens, in our emissions-belching, stuff-hungry society, there is always room for improvement; and innovation, risk and creativity are the ingredients for impactful answers.

This is why I was particularly inspired and enraged by UK filmmaker Oliver Hodges' documentary Garbage Warrior; an in-depth piece on the ongoing materials, methods and community-building research by visionary architect and humanitarian aid worker Mike Reynolds, and the struggles he has faced in his quest to innovate sustainable living solutions for our increasingly endangered society.

In engineering his "Earthships", which are fully self-sustaining living solutions suitable for human occupancy in even the most extreme conditions, Reynolds has innovated some seriously forward-thinking construction solutions such as the use of packed-earth tires (as heat conserving core for structural walls) and the use of upcycled glass and plastic bottles as light providers and architectural art. Oh yeah, his housing developments often include built-in agricultural solutions, so that you can save yourself the gasoline you would otherwise spend trucking to and from the grocery store (buying sad, packaged goods that much to the oil companies' delight - have been trucked and flown in from the ends of the earth!)

What infuriated me about the film was the exhaustive struggle that Reynolds faced in obtaining permission to practice the experimental investigations that have paid off in such promising advances. Legal opponents of his work, (which ironically, leaves utility-companies and red-tape-happy contractors pressing their noses up against the glass of his earthships) helped to revoke his state and national architects license for some years in the 1990's.  I'll leave it to you to watch the film, but coming up on tax time (as we are all doing here in the U.S.), it pained me to watch most of the scenes involving legislature holdups and bill management as he worked with due diligence to leave room in New Mexico's state law for experimental sustainable housing sub-divisions.

Ultimately, Garbage Warrior is a film worth watching, however riled up it made me. Earthships may not be your idea of a dream home, but there is insight and inspiration to be gained from watching this film, even if just to remember never to let the *man* throw you down for having your own point of view, or to ever subdue your creative fire.