Recycling is great, but there are only so many times that a glass or plastic bottle can be melted down and made new again. Artists and designers who manage to find new uses for these discarded disposables give them a new sense of value that can last for generations. These 13 works of art transform used bottles in surprising ways, turning them into vases, chandeliers, chairs, ornaments and more.
Vessel by Caroline Saul
(image via: apartment therapy)
You would never guess by looking at it that this delicate vessel by artist Caroline Saul is made of recycled milk bottles. While the holes make it less than ideal as a vase, the piece is more like sculpture, an object to be admired just for the way it looks.
SIE43 Chair by Pawel Grunert
(images via: inhabitat)
Made for the ‘Eco Trans Pop’ exhibition at the Colombari Gallery in Milan, Italy, Pawel Grunert’s ‘SIE43 Chair’ is made of dozens of blue plastic water bottles. The reclaimed bottles are fixed to a stainless steel frame.
Glass Ornaments Made of Bottles
(images via: dean wolf)
Broken glass mineral water bottles are transformed into beautiful transparent ornaments by glassworker Dean Wolf, who says of his ‘bottle balls’, “We tried out various found metal molds on the bubble, so each turned out unique in the optical effects of its walls.”
Bottle Cap Art by Mary Ellen Croteau
(images via: this is colossal)
Artist Mary Ellen Croteau creates subtle variations in tone by stacking multiple plastic bottle lids, which enabled her to assemble this amazingly realistic self-portrait.
Milk Bottle Art by Charlotte Hughes-Martin
(images via: oddee)
A mysterious person who came to be known as ‘bottle Banksy’ took used milk bottles from doorsteps in Stourbridge, UK, etching beautifully detailed images into them and then returning them. That artist was later revealed to be artist Charlotte Hughes-Martin, who also uses clear soda and beer bottles for her creations, and occasionally creates creatures out of broken shards.
