PROJECT iii: Vic Muniz: WASTEland
STUDENT RESPONSE PAPER
Video: Wasteland by Vic Muniz
3 page response to the film WASTELAND answering specifically:
i. Introduce the film, title, date, who is Vic Muniz, the project?
Thus, you need to do some extra research.
ii. What is the global impact of Vic Muniz's work?
iii. What are the current efforts of Muniz, other artists/designers and organizations that hope
affect change on a regional, national and/or global level?
student writing example . SA131. FA 2015 . SEPT
Vik Muniz, an artist and photographer from Brazil, completed a three-year long documentary about the catadores- the people who pick recyclable materials out of the garbage located at Jardim Gramacho, a land fill in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, depicting their struggles and innate sense of pride, dignity, and optimism, even though much of Brazil considers them to be underclass citizens.
When watching this movie, you see how very real these people are, they have hopes, they have fears, they’re scared or downtrodden (barely scraping by on their paychecks), they do things for each other (such as twenty people donating blood for one injured comrade), every single aspect of their personalities are every day. They’re not unique from other people, they’re just as curious, just as loving, just as sad. And I think that was the most important part of the whole endeavor, not the selling of the portraits, not the fame, but the recognition of the pickers, and anybody who saw their portraits, that they were people, real people with hearts, and with brains.
Waste Land, the name of Vik Muniz’s documentary, was, essentially a humanitarian effort on his part. He didn’t go into the landfill with the hope of making himself money (he donated all the proceedings to the Association of Recycling Pickers of Jardim Gramacho), but rather he wanted to prove how human the pickers were, as he realized when he compared the inhuman pictures of the catadores taken from the window of a helicopter with the very personable photos from his meet and greet.
This transition of proving to the catadores they were worth everything anybody else was, made the documentary for me. This aspect was what made me pay attention. Learning how one woman went from embarrassed to be a picker, to being proud, saying how it was a dignified job, an honest job.
This idea of taking people that are often overlooked, or looked down upon, and transforming them into human beings (even though they already were and many people just can’t recognize this) has been undertaken by more than just Vik Muniz.
In Skid Row, LA, a photographer by the name of John Hwang has beenphotographing the homeless, for no gain- he just posts the pictures and the people’s stories onto his Facebook account- he doesn’t get any fame or recognition nor does heget any compensation for his time, money, and supplies he gives to the homeless when he talks with them. It’s all on him, and his six days a week job, and expensive student loans.
Hwang says that he photographs the homeless in Skid Row because the conversations are the realest you can get. That they talk about important things, and completely managed to change his outlook on his own life. That’s what happened to Vic Muniz too. He changed the catadores’ lives, but they changed his too. He realized how much personality was crammed into those downtrodden people, and it touched his heart. Hwang saw how much the homeless had to say, and captured both the stories and the faces.
Vic Muniz, through selling the portraits of the pickers, gave back to the Association of Recycling Pickers of Jardim Gramacho all the profits. This changed how much the association could do for the catadores, a library with books was built, classes were offered, and when the Jardim Gramacho landfill closed, the association managed to get a payout of $7500.00 for each picker, and a place in the decisions of the new recycling facilities in Brazil.
Hwang, through his photographs, managed to create a sort of “butterfly effect” where one photo spurs a hundred people into action. They would go meet with the photo subjects, buy them dinner, help them with transportation, anything they wanted. And this could then allow a job, a family, and then more lives to be being changed, and it created a web of people helping each other…..all because of a photograph and a paragraph of a man, or woman’s, story.
I almost can’t put into words what these photographs did for the people who were the subjects. It completely changed their lives. Gave them hope, gave them spirit, renewed vigor, it catapulted them into an entirely unknown, unseen, or forgotten world. This is truly the epitome of anything humanitarian, and anything worthwhile. Taking people who are worth it, showing them, and then showing everybody else.
That changes things. That could change a whole lot of things.
Works Cited
"This Brazilian Artist Makes the World A Much Better Place One Piece At A
Time." Xpatnation. N.p., 05 Mar. 2015. Web. 26 Sept. 2015.
20, 2012 June. "Cyntoia’s Story Finalist for Casey Medal in Journalism for Families and
Children." PBS. PBS, 20 June 2012. Web. 26 Sept. 2015.
student writing example:
student writing example:
One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure
“I’d rather want everything and have nothing than have everything and want nothing.” Artist Vik Muniz, in the 2010 documentary Waste Land directed by Lucy Walker, meant that if you have nothing and want everything, you have something to strive for and that’s what makes life more meaningful and worthwhile; otherwise, life has no purpose if you have everything. Born in Brazil, Muniz came from nothing and dreamed of one day having everything. As an artist and photographer, Muniz wanted to one day earn a living where he could help the poor areas of Brazil. During his three years creating works of art out of garbage at the Jardim Gramacho landfill, one of the world’s largest landfills on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Muniz is able to use his art as a means of making social, economic, and cultural changes for the garbage pickers, their Brazilian nation, and the global art community.
Muniz took pride in creating art that he hoped would change the world and minds of the people living in it. Using everyday items, like sugar, chocolate syrup, peanut butter, dirt, assorted garbage, he set out to achieve this dream. He took portraits of local people and then transformed them into works of art through the use of everyday materials. After having success with his “Sugar Children” series where he recreated portraits of Caribbean children using sugar on black background paper, Muniz wanted to make a positive change in the lives of the garbage pickers, who were being ostracized because they were in a lower class and worked at the Gramacho landfill.
Vik Muniz wanted to prove to Brazil, as well as the world, that the landfill had a human side. While meeting with the pickers at the landfill, Muniz listened to their stories about what led them to collect garbage. Muniz was inspired by their stories and wanted to portray each garbage picker, known as a catadore, as accurately as possible. “They are no different than any other person in how they relate to the idea of art.” He wanted to show Brazil that even though these people sort through trash as a living, some because they simply have nowhere else to go, the catadores are still people. They still deserve respect and are not lower on the society totem pole solely because of their occupation. Muniz is credited with making changes in how catadores are viewed in society.
“I’d rather want everything and have nothing than have everything and want nothing.” Artist Vik Muniz, in the 2010 documentary Waste Land directed by Lucy Walker, meant that if you have nothing and want everything, you have something to strive for and that’s what makes life more meaningful and worthwhile; otherwise, life has no purpose if you have everything. Born in Brazil, Muniz came from nothing and dreamed of one day having everything. As an artist and photographer, Muniz wanted to one day earn a living where he could help the poor areas of Brazil. During his three years creating works of art out of garbage at the Jardim Gramacho landfill, one of the world’s largest landfills on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Muniz is able to use his art as a means of making social, economic, and cultural changes for the garbage pickers, their Brazilian nation, and the global art community.
Muniz took pride in creating art that he hoped would change the world and minds of the people living in it. Using everyday items, like sugar, chocolate syrup, peanut butter, dirt, assorted garbage, he set out to achieve this dream. He took portraits of local people and then transformed them into works of art through the use of everyday materials. After having success with his “Sugar Children” series where he recreated portraits of Caribbean children using sugar on black background paper, Muniz wanted to make a positive change in the lives of the garbage pickers, who were being ostracized because they were in a lower class and worked at the Gramacho landfill.
Vik Muniz wanted to prove to Brazil, as well as the world, that the landfill had a human side. While meeting with the pickers at the landfill, Muniz listened to their stories about what led them to collect garbage. Muniz was inspired by their stories and wanted to portray each garbage picker, known as a catadore, as accurately as possible. “They are no different than any other person in how they relate to the idea of art.” He wanted to show Brazil that even though these people sort through trash as a living, some because they simply have nowhere else to go, the catadores are still people. They still deserve respect and are not lower on the society totem pole solely because of their occupation. Muniz is credited with making changes in how catadores are viewed in society.
For his Gramacho project, he took portraits of six of the garbage pickers and then he employed the individual pickers he had photographed to help fill in the shadows of the portraits with recyclable materials taken from the landfill. Instead of just making works of art, he made friends. At the end, each catadore was allowed to see their final image from high above on scaffolding. At this higher viewpoint, they got to see themselves differently than they had ever seen themselves before and it gave them a new sense of respect for themselves and the strength to make the changes they wanted in their life.
The pickers no longer saw the trash as simply trash, they saw it as a way to create art. To the catadores, “it’s not garbage, it’s money.” The garbage was really “recyclable material” and businesses paid good money for recyclable material. The money earned from their catadore job allowed the women to earn a living and kept them from being a prostitute, which they viewed as an even lower class of person than a catadore. Muniz was able to create works of art, some which sold for over $50,000 at auction and put that money back into ACAMJG, the Association of Garbage Pickers of Jardim Gramacho, to help them purchase a truck and get the rights and protection that they deserved. Before, the pickers felt that they had to fight for their rights using confrontation. According to Tião, one of the head catadore, Muniz’s project changed all of this and provided them with the partnerships that they needed.
The pickers no longer saw the trash as simply trash, they saw it as a way to create art. To the catadores, “it’s not garbage, it’s money.” The garbage was really “recyclable material” and businesses paid good money for recyclable material. The money earned from their catadore job allowed the women to earn a living and kept them from being a prostitute, which they viewed as an even lower class of person than a catadore. Muniz was able to create works of art, some which sold for over $50,000 at auction and put that money back into ACAMJG, the Association of Garbage Pickers of Jardim Gramacho, to help them purchase a truck and get the rights and protection that they deserved. Before, the pickers felt that they had to fight for their rights using confrontation. According to Tião, one of the head catadore, Muniz’s project changed all of this and provided them with the partnerships that they needed.
The “Pictures of Garbage” project focused on six main pickers. Tião was the leader of the ACAMJG society and mimicked the famous portrait “The Death of Marat” of a man in a tub. Irma was a cook who had worked there for over thirty years and was proud of what she did. The pickers were her family and she cared about them. Suelem, a single mother with a three year old and a two year old, was only 18 and had been a picker since she was seven. Magna was a woman whose husband had lost his job and she decided to work as a picker. Embarrassed, she did not tell anyone about her picker job. After the movie, Magna told everyone that she was a picker and she became proud of her job. Zumbi and Isis were also changed by their experiences with Muniz. Almost all of Muniz’s subjects had spent their lives surrounded by trash. They have collected it, sorted through it and dealt with the smell. Almost all the catadores were forced by poverty to take up the job as a picker, but they have all developed a strong family bond.
Tião, as the leader of ACAMJG, continues to work to make improvements in the recycled materials industry and for the lives of the catadores. With the financial help of Muniz’s project, Tião has been able to improve the role ACAMJG plays in the recycling program. By getting local mayors and the governor to work together and help find ways to improve the recycling industry and create new standards, he is bringing awareness to an important economic and social issue. According to Tião, Brazil is looking at their recycle contracts and finding ways to recycle efficiently when they host the World Cup in 2014.
With local and global artists using trash as a medium in their artwork, they are helping to spread the word about the importance of the famous “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” motto. Artists today are taking an active role in educating millions about the importance of reducing the amount of waste that is produced in the world, in order to reduce the effect that the garbage has on the economy, our cultures, and on society.
Tião, as the leader of ACAMJG, continues to work to make improvements in the recycled materials industry and for the lives of the catadores. With the financial help of Muniz’s project, Tião has been able to improve the role ACAMJG plays in the recycling program. By getting local mayors and the governor to work together and help find ways to improve the recycling industry and create new standards, he is bringing awareness to an important economic and social issue. According to Tião, Brazil is looking at their recycle contracts and finding ways to recycle efficiently when they host the World Cup in 2014.
With local and global artists using trash as a medium in their artwork, they are helping to spread the word about the importance of the famous “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” motto. Artists today are taking an active role in educating millions about the importance of reducing the amount of waste that is produced in the world, in order to reduce the effect that the garbage has on the economy, our cultures, and on society.
The 2010 award-winning documentary Waste Land brings the issues related to landfills and the importance of recycling into focus and is able to reach a wide audience. As an artist, Muniz is doing his part to improve the lives of the garbage pickers and improve the recycling program in his native country of Brazil. By artists helping to spread the awareness of the importance of reducing our consumption, finding new uses for our trash, and recycling all the materials that we can, we can reduce the impact garbage has on our world. Artists, like Muniz, have the ability to reach millions with their message about recycling. Important organizations, like ACAMJG, and political figures have helped invoke important changes, also. By everyone doing their part, we can reduce our waste and improve the lives of our people now and in the future.