Time and again, we have been bringing artistic sculptures that have been crafted from junk or other recycled materials. Be it art from plastic, newspapers or metal or even cigarette butts to strengthen no smoking movement, these artworks stand apart from the crowd with their recycled bones. While many of these recycled artworks can only be used as standing display items, there are designers who give them life by making them in a way that makes movement possible. Here is a list of 12 such kinetic sculptures that have been made from recycled materials:Chris Cole’s Recycled Sculptures
The recycled sculptures by Chris Cole are mostly inspired by nature and its various forms. All the sculptures developed by the designer are kinetic and driven either by a motor or hand crank.
Andrew Chase’s Kinetic animal sculptures
Andrew Chase, a renowned name in the world of nature-inspired artwork, has developed several mechanical sculptures from recycled materials. The sculptures are made with a complex mesh of gears and levers, which makes movement possible.
Recycled Junk Sculptures
Mechanical artist Nemo Gould has created a range of recycled robot sculptures that are up for sale as well. While the designer creates sculptures in many forms, the Octovarius, which was priced at $2500, calls out attention to the distressed marine life with its moving tentacles.
Giant Kinetic Robot Sculpture
This giant kinetic robot sculpture is another kinetic sculpture developed by Nemo Gould. Dubbed “General Debris,” the recycled robot sculpture can move its arms and hands.
GrassChopper
The GrassChopper by designer John T. Unger has been fashioned from recycled metals including steel, cast iron and copper. The sculpture which resembles a grasshopper can be moved around the yard to actually mow the tops of very tall grass.
Giant Squid
The Giant Squid is created from large objects found in the junkyard by designer Nemo Gould. The motor connected recycled kinetic sculpture has movable tentacles that breathe life into it.
Jim La Paso’s recycled metal kinetic sculptures
The recycled kinetic sculptures by designer Jim La Paso are made up of copper, brass, aluminum or stainless steel. The kinetic sculptures use space-age plastic bearings for generations of outdoor use. The bearings never need to be oiled and are impervious to salt water.
Visualize Whirled Peas
The Visualize Whirled Peas has been created from recycled materials and is connected to pedals that make movement possible.
Kinetic Choo Choo
The Kinetic Choo Choo is a whole earth train that has been created from recycled materials. The lowest gear is 60 turns of the pedals to one turn of the rear wheel. Also included are 324 gears in reverse, eight chains, seven derailleurs and chain ‘V’ drive propeller.
Jamboree
Created by sculpture artist David C. Roy, the Jamboree is a flower-shaped sculpture that touts varying motion patterns as one changes the perspective. Jamboree is a 65″h x 45″w x 20″d sized, human-powered sculpture that keeps running for 10 hours once its spring is fully coiled.
