Clean Art

Jan Eric Visser has been transforming the inorganic part of his household refuse into autonomous works of art since 1987 as an ongoing project and his lifework. All sorts of waste items disappear into his sculptures, defining their shapes but indistinguishable from the art they make up. Waste paper and coloured leaflets, processed and impregnated with wax, make up the skins of the works. Visser’s Clean Art sculptures harbour valuable resources for future generations. Besides being pieces of fine art, they are mysterious containers with a hidden inner content. The works may be said to refer to a post-industrial future in which raw materials are cherished and no longer incinerated as waste. Visser reduces his personal footprint; his household waste is preservable. If only all waste were so highly valued.