Icy & Sot and a Man of Trash in Tbilisi, Georgia

15 centuries old, Tbilisi may not last as long as this garbage man sculpture by Street Artists Icy & Sot.

Icy & Sot. “Human reflection on nature”. Tbilisi, Georgia. May 2017. (photo © Icy & Sot)

“It took us only 10 minutes to collect all this trash because there was so much of it – including American brands – in the river by this village,” says Icy as he tells us about the trip he and his brother Sot made last month. A gorgeous and historically diverse city of 1.5 million people, Tbilisi reflects art, architecture, trade and culture that have given the Georgian capital a reputation as a crossroads for Europe and Asia.

During their stay with the Art Villa Garikula, a self organized community contemporary art center begun Tbilisi born painter and educator, Karaman Kutateladze in 2000, Icy and Sot did two pieces and an ad takeover that reflect the global problems posed by a consumer culture sold by corporations with little concern for its impact long term.

Icy & Sot. “Human reflection on nature”. Tbilisi, Georgia. May 2017. (photo © Icy & Sot)

Just last week BSA featured another Street Artist who is concerned about plastics floating around in the oceans, and here we have a sculpture of a human figure made entirely of plastic packaging.

The brothers were in town as guests of the Nova I Festival. “They were such a wonderful people,” says Icy, “and it was a magical place to work. They do art residencies and have held this festival every summer for the past 9 year where artists go to make installations, sculptures and paintings.” The Art Villa Garikula and its collaborative art community provide exhibition space and a museum facility with more than 300 artworks of contemporary art. They also offer unconventional educational programs based on experiential learning, an artist-in-residence program, and the annual festival.

Icy & Sot. “Human reflection on nature”. Tbilisi, Georgia. May 2017. (photo © Icy & Sot)

Often more than a little ironic with their placement, this new sculptural figure is positioned in the midst of the rolling Georgian landscape, Sot says, “we loved the nature and the landscape – it was a perfect opportunity for us to make work about the nature and the environment.”

A second piece not shown here is a human shaped mirror buried in a grassy lot reflecting the sky – but that may appear in a future posting.

Icy & Sot. Ad takeover. Tbilisi, Georgia. May 2017. (photo © Icy & Sot)

Here also we see an ad takeover with the simplest imagery of a free-flying bird trapped beneath a clear plastic water bottle. According the the World Counts website, we only recycle 1 of every 5 water bottles. Guess where the rest goes?

“Its so sad to see how much plastic trash we produce,” continues Icy. “We all should try to use less and less plastic in our life. Every single piece of plastic that has ever been created since the 19th century its still somewhere in our planet.”

Sot adds “Plastic is killing the planet and our health.”

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