We Kill You turns trash into treasure

Trash to Treasure:
Toronto artist turned garbage strike into creative opportunity

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That’s how Toronto artist Justin Pape, of We Kill You feels about both the “waste” people throw out, and the recent garbage strike situation. Taking used furniture and household items people have tossed to the curb and turning them into creative masterpieces, Pape displays the installations in intersections and public spaces throughout the city.

Recognized for its lovable monster characters, bright colours, and fantasy scapes, We Kill You – well known for it’s art, toys, and clothing – has been making residents of Toronto smile for over half a decade with a variety of multimedia street art, including what Pape calls “exterior decoration” projects. With these projects, Pape takes old, unwanted household and furniture items and rejuvenates them with paint, stencil work and cut out pasteups to create unique, new artwork. He then drops the pieces off at various well-traversed intersections and public spaces throughout the city for everyone to enjoy.

“It’s something I’ve always done, it just feels like it has more of an important commentary attached to it right now, in the wake of the recent strike situation,” says Pape. “We may no longer have garbage situation, but it was fairly obvious over the last month that we have a waste problem, which relates to our "reuse and recycle" habits - or lack thereof.” His artistry is social commentary: “We seem to forget how much we waste when we have the luxury of weekly garbage pick-up,” Pape says, “but our wastefulness kind of slaps us in the face without it. I suppose, right now, the exterior decoration pieces ask us to think twice about what we toss out, to reuse items, but also to try to view “trash” in a different way, and think of 'recycling' in a new light – waste not want not, right?”

Over the five weeks of the strike Pape has managed to drop off pieces in over 15 locations across the city, including Queen West, Kensington Market and Little Italy, and will continue to do drop offs for the rest of the season. Typically, he receives only smiles and curious looks when he sets up the work. Now, with context of the strike, people seem to automatically associate the installments with a statement about waste and the city’s politics, asking questions and applauding his work and efforts.

The most rewarding outcome for the artist? “When people come by to take an installment to enjoy at home. With the garbage strike on especially, I know it’s not being picked up to go to the dump,” laughs Pape. “It’s rewarding to think that other people love it enough to want to stare at every day, and that they too can see that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.”

We Kill You Website: http://www.wekillyou.net
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/wekillyou
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wekillyou
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wekillyou
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wekillyou