In an inventive gambit to promote recycling and re-purposing of all the random stuff that ends up in our collective trash bin, Art at the Dump is the culmination of this year’s unique artists-in-residence program at Recology San Francisco. Featuring work by Scott Kildall, Niki Ulehla, and Alex Nichols, everything in the exhibit was created with materials scavenged from - you guessed it - the dump.

Formerly a puppetry student in the Czech Republic, Niki Ulehla masterminded a cast of marionettes to perform a version of Dante’s Inferno. Made from reclaimed wood and leather, she carved and painted the puppets that will descend stylishly into hell during the exhibition receptions. 

Imaginary inventor Scott Kindall gently mocks the perfectly designed gadgets so beloved of Wired magazine with his whimsically humorous Reality Simulator and the Sniffer. The homemade aura of his inventions points to a future need to mine landfills for resources.

Alex Nichols uses poetry to investigate the stories that can be found at the dump. Her sonnets weave through the language and mixed media she unearths, adding new structure to the life that ends up in the trash. Sort of like the exhibition as a whole. Which is just pretty darn cool. 

May 20-21. 503 Tunnel Avenue. Admission is free. Info at recologysf.com/AIR.