TRASHed @ Coachella: Recycling Bins as Art

Sometimes what one person sees as trash is seen by another as art. And every now and then, something can be viewed as both. That's surely the case in the exhibit TRASHed @ Coachella, put on by the Los Angeles-based group Global Inheritance. Listen to an interview about the exhibit with Global Inheritance's executive director Eric Ritz and KPCC's Alex Cohen.

For the past seven years, Global Inheritance has gathered a collection of artists to decorate recycling bins which are then taken to the Coachella Music Festival.

Eric Ritz says the idea was a no-brainer. "Every festival needed recycling bins and usually they were hideous looking," he says. "We figured that if we could turn them into a work of art they'd be more engaging and people would have a more enjoyable time recycling."

They started with just ten bins at the Coachella festival seven years ago. Those bins were a hit and they've been going back to the festival in Indio ever since.

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Ritz says the bins are placed throughout the event. "It's almost like an interactive art work," he says. "This is a way to see the different art and recycle in different locations."

This year Global Inheritance will be bringing back some favorite bins from years past, including one Hunter S. Thompson designed, complete with a shotgun hole at the side. They'll also feature 35 new recycling bins. Ritz says robots are a big theme this year. If you are headed to the festival, keep an eye out for Wall-E and R2D2.

After the Coachella Festival is over, many of the bins will be donated to Los Angeles area schools.

If you'd like to see the recycling bins in person before they head to Coachella, they'll be on display from 7 to 11 pm on Friday, April 9th at the POVevolving Gallery at 939 Chung King Road in Los Angeles.