I like the idea of making art from garbage or objects which are otherwise completely useless (like coffee stir sticks...most offices are buried in these). I'm not sure if he's cleaning out any office kitchens but George Hart created some geometrical marvels using plasticware. There are other fantastic creations on his sculpture page including the not-to-be-missed Gonads of the Rich and Famous. [link from blackholebrain]

Here are links to folks who truly use garbage for art:
Trash Culture
Plastic Fantastic
Augart Gallery

Do something with all of those coffee stir sticks/straws:
crafts

Ok, I didn't find much...better yet...use a spoon fer crying out loud! Stir with your finger and lick it off. When the coffee supply delivery guy shows up hand him back the forty five boxes of stir sticks and tell him that large mouth bass are dying daily from ingesting cast off straws mistaken for anemic nightcrawlers and that innocent birds are being impaled on them while trying to land in garbage dumps and a careful analysis of the organic magnetic structure of the typical stir straw/stick sets up a sympathetic harmonic distortion field which eventually renders the stick stirring male user impotent and sterile with a slight lisp and an inability to enjoy vacation time without checking email every six hours and an annoying laugh that they try to hide by not opening their lips which turns it into a desparate snort and clues everyone into their desparate addiction to using a long, thin anemic earthworm looking stick to stir mildly soporific non-milk based chemicals into an otherwise tasty beverage.

Don't get me started...

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