Art made from trash is treasured at San Francisco gallery exhibit
To most people, a dump is just a dump. But to Deena Qabazard, it's a full-service art supply store with a very flexible return policy.
"Sometimes you look and you're like, 'No!' and then sometimes the unexpected car comes and you're like, 'Oh my goodness, fantastic!'" said Deena Qabazard, a Kuwaiti-American artist who has been mining the muck for years, looking to give old objects a new spark.
On this particular morning, she scores a bracelet, a mirror, and a string of chandelier crystals, all ready for their second act. Back in her studio, those finds turn into collages of metal, textiles, and photographs, much of it pulled straight from the dump.
"Now I'm kind of just playing around compositionally, what it looks like," Qabazard said.
As climate concerns take center stage, repurposed art is getting more wall space and less side-eye from the art world.
Exhibit A: The latest show from the city's garbage collector, Recology, which for 35 years has run an artist-in-residence program, now on display at the city's famed Minnesota Street Project.
Deborah Munk, who runs the program, said 99% of the materials are what is referred to as upcycled.
"Artists have been using trash for a long time, but maybe for different reasons because they couldn't afford it. But now, with all the environmental issues we're dealing with, it's becoming more apparent," Munk said.
From self-portraits made with discarded mirrors and the artist's own hair, to installations built from pool floats left high and dry, and even one of Qabazard's earlier pieces, a weathered photograph, surrounded by scraps, all pulled from the city's trash and meant to reframe how we see beauty.
"It's really important for younger generations to see we can reuse things and transform them, how they can expand our imagination," Qabazard said.
The Recology San Francisco Artist in Residence exhibit runs through August 30 at Minnesota Street Project.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
2 minutes ago
- New York Times
If You Have Time for Just One Romance Novel, Make It This One
August Lane AUGUST LANE (Grand Central, 325 pp., $29) is a second-chance romance and a powerhouse of the genre — a sullen, smoldering ember that's one breath away from blazing into an inferno. To be honest, I'm a little mad you're reading my column and not this book right now. August was abandoned by her superstar mother, Jojo, raised by her grandmother and betrayed by the boy she loved. That boy, Luke Randall, stole a song they'd co-written and became a country music star himself. And now Jojo's being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and has asked Luke to sing his signature hit as a duet onstage in Arcadia, their hometown. Everything that was taken from August is on that concert stage, and it will all go up in smoke if she tells anyone that Luke had a co-writer. Contracts, royalties, sponsorships — poof. Revenge is right there for the taking. Except August doesn't know the real reason Luke's kept singing their song. She doesn't know he's been sober for five years, and that he's tired of watching his career wither while he hides his real voice behind radio-friendly production polish. She doesn't know he sees his return to Arcadia as a chance to finally make things right. If she doesn't burn down his career, he'll do it for her. The angst is glorious. Everyone in this book is ruined in some way that will never be fixed. People do monstrous things to the ones they love. This is not the aw-shucks kind of country: It's the murder ballads, the rolling thunder, the long black road — and the best romance I've read all year. The Entanglement of Rival Wizards Next up is an enemies-to-lovers, THE ENTANGLEMENT OF RIVAL WIZARDS (Bramble, 326 pp., paperback, $19.99), in which a magical graduate student has to work with his nemesis from another department in order to keep his funding and complete his degree. Sebastian Walsh, a human wizard studying evocation, keeps his trauma close at hand like a switchblade. Elethior Tourael — he says to call him Thio; Sebastian would rather die — is a snobby half-elf from the rival conjuration department whose relatives have made piles of money off magical weapons. Thio and Sebastian separately pitched projects on how to prevent magical spells from draining a wizard's power — so to save money, the university pairs them up and tells them they're sharing the grant. It's a disaster until the two realize that irritation is one step away from attraction. But just as they're starting to work as a team, both in and out of the lab, family secrets start coming home to roost. This is the complex world building SFF readers live for, paired with the epic swooning of modern romantasy. Raasch gives us a detailed magical military-industrial complex that has its claws in every aspect of Sebastian and Thio's lives. The philosophy of spells, orc religions, parental betrayals — it's a lot, but Raasch always pulls back before it becomes too much. By Marsh and by Moor Finally, indie author Trent has treated us to a new working-class queer Regency, BY MARSH AND BY MOOR (Self-published, ebook, $3.99). Jedediah Trevithick loved his life as a carrier, just him and his cart and his horse. But then he was kidnapped by the press gang, a roving band that snatched up laborers for a Royal Navy desperately in need of sailors. Jed has spent the past five years at sea, dodging cannonballs, hating the officers and planning his escape. Now he's washed ashore at the feet of a London ostler traveling to a place not far from Jed's hometown. Solomon has his own reasons for keeping to the back roads and byways — but he doesn't know them nearly as well as Jed does, even after five years' absence. Solomon and Jed come to depend on each other — and then, slowly, to want more than simple trust and friendship. But Solomon's secrets are the kind you can't run away from — and Jed will have to decide just how much of his life he's willing to risk for love. Regencies with war veteran heroes often paint the Napoleonic period as an orgy of prize money and roguish scars; Trent presents the bleak reality most soldiers and sailors faced instead — being stolen from loved ones and sent to die by cannon or cutlass. But we also see people stand up to the press gangs, protect friends and strangers, and find ways to keep one another safe from kidnappers and abuses of the law. In a subgenre where money is so often the fantasy, it's worth cheering characters who escape via their wits and not their wealth.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Swatch ad that sparked backlash puts focus on risky campaigns amid diversity rollbacks
By Samantha Marshak (Reuters) -In an era of short attention spans and a White House that has declared war on diversity programs, companies are embracing edgier marketing. But the strategy can carry risks. Swiss watchmaker Swatch recently got in trouble for an ad that mimicked racist taunts against Asians and had to apologize. The ad featured an Asian male model pulling up and backwards the corners of his eyes in a "slanted eye" pose. It was not clear if the mistake was an intentional bid to grab attention. The Swatch misfire was just one in a growing number of norm-breaking advertisements that come amid a rollback in diversity programs in the U.S. In addition, shoppers' constrained budgets and short memories have prompted companies to green-light riskier ads that they hope will help them stand out in a competitive market. In pursuit of going viral, companies including American Eagle Outfitters, Dunkin Donuts and Elf Beauty recently released advertisements that were immediately criticized on social media for seemingly promoting white-centric beauty ideals, or for hiring celebrity endorsers who might have negative associations. American Eagle's ad featured Sydney Sweeney - an actor popular with Gen Z and known for her parts in hit shows including "The White Lotus" and "Euphoria" - who played on the similarity between the words "jeans" and "genes." The commercial was widely panned on social media for possibly raising issues of genetic traits in a racial context. U.S. President Donald Trump even weighed in on the controversy, calling the commercial by Sweeney, a registered Republican, the "HOTTEST ad out there" and saying "Being WOKE is for losers." Dunkin followed with an ad featuring actor Gavin Casalegno promoting a new summer drink called Golden Hour. In the ad, Casalegno attributes his tan to genetics, saying "This tan? Genetics. I just got my color analysis back. Guess what? Golden summer. Literally." Swatch, American Eagle Outfitters and Dunkin did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Businesses - especially those that make money from buzzy trends - are pushing the envelope as recent federal actions have shifted the legal and regulatory landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. The notion of inclusivity had been a cornerstone of many companies' marketing since 2020, when the death of a Black man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis police, became a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement. Five years later, that idea has been de-emphasized. "Marketers are between a rock and a hard place. They know that the more inclusive they are, the less likely they are to get some social media buzz,' said Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce. They are taking more risks to try to break through to a younger, targeted audience, he said. 'UNFORCED ERROR' Any gains from these ads, though, could be short-lived. They risk harming a brand's reputation in the longer run and may alienate a large consumer base of non-white shoppers, branding experts said. 'Whether it's the Black consumer, the Asian consumer, the Latin consumer, when American Eagle does an ad like that, they're excluding and they're leaving money on the table,' said Angeli Gianchandani, an adjunct professor at New York University and a brand strategist who has worked with the likes of Tiffany. Gianchandani said while non-Hispanic white Americans dominate U.S. buying power, these other demographics are growing faster. L'Oréal faced criticism this month for partnering with a content creator on OnlyFans who posts lifestyle as well as adult content. The move went against the company's own stated guidelines for working with social media influencers that says these partners will not "engage in behaviours which could be interpreted as ... pornography." Elf's ad that starred Matt Rife, a comedian who has made headlines for his joke about domestic violence, drew swift and sharp reaction online. It prompted an apology from the company whose trendy, inexpensive products are a hit with young shoppers. L'Oreal and Elf did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "That is not a blind spot; that is a brand knowingly stepping into controversy with someone who does not align with its values," said Gianchandani, calling the move an "unforced error." Unlike Elf, and also Swatch, which apologized quickly for their ads, American Eagle stood by its campaign. Ashley Schapiro, American Eagle's vice president of marketing, said on LinkedIn that on a Zoom call with Sweeney, company executives asked her, 'How far do you want to push it?' 'Without hesitation, she smirked and said, 'Let's push it. I'm game.' Our response? 'Challenge Accepted'." Sign in to access your portfolio
Associated Press
32 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Auddia Announces New B2B Business Model with Strategic Shift to AI Driven Music Discovery
Auddia shifts business model from B2C to B2B, targeting artists and labels for SaaS access to ad-free AM/FM streaming listeners faidr users will enjoy free access to AI driven ad-free AM/FM streams on all music stations Music from new artists and deep tracks from established artists are expected to occupy up to 33% of stream content on average BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Auddia Inc. (NASDAQ:AUUD) (NASDAQ:AUUDW) ('Auddia' or the 'Company'), an AI first technology company that has built a proprietary AI platform for audio identification and classification to reinvent how consumers engage with audio, today announced a strategic shift for faidr, the Company's AI driven ad-free AM/FM streaming and podcast listening app. Whereas faidr users currently need to subscribe to enjoy the benefits of the Company's AI technology that automatically identifies ad breaks so they can be removed from the listening experience, Auddia will be making all premium AI features free to consumers. Instead of monetizing consumers, the Company will be monetizing artists who want to put their music in front of mainstream AM/FM streaming audiences. 'Since running a pilot of our Discovr Program, where we sourced a handful of new artists and inserted them into radio feeds, we've been looking for more ways to connect artists with new fans,' said Theo Romeo, Auddia's CMO. 'Radio continues to be the perfect mechanism to break new artists, but radio tends only to play bands or tracks that have already gained the requisite popularity. New music platforms like Bandcamp and SoundCloud are integral tools for artists to connect with new fans and even monetize their content, but those platforms only cater to a subset of the total addressable market for an artist. The largest group of potential fans remains on radio, listening to music passively, not searching for new artists, even though they are chomping at the bit to hear new, exciting music based on our surveys and research. Our new Discovr Radio platform will deliver this experience.' Unlike other new music discovery platforms, which allow artists to upload songs in the hopes that new listeners will find them among the other songs available, Discovr Radio delivers guaranteed plays to artists, leveraging AI to place their songs into radio feeds as part of a custom programming experience and as unique content during what would typically be an ad break. This gives artists opportunities to be heard by the many millions of streaming radio listeners worldwide. The new Discovr Radio platform will consist of a new AI Placement Engine and Artist Portal. The AI Placement Engine will aim to put the right new song in front of the right listener, on the right station, adjacent to the right artist, to optimize music discovery and the connection between artists and fans. The Artist Portal will give artists performance analytics on number of total plays, likes and dislikes, demographic data, and facilitate the connection of artists to their new fans. In addition to streaming songs on live radio streams, the Discovr Radio offering will eventually allow artists and labels to launch campaigns on streaming apps to promote new songs, albums, and tours. Auddia is evolving its business model from direct-to-consumer to business-to-business, shifting its focus from individual radio-streaming subscribers to artists and labels. Through a modest monthly subscription, these partners gain guaranteed radio plays—offering a new channel for music promotion. 'We're able to reach and engage artists and labels with far greater precision,' said Theo Romeo, Auddia's CMO. 'Our internal research shows a serviceable addressable market of over 100 million prospects. We see Discovr as an accessible, high-impact tool that complements the broader ecosystem of artist promotion—from social media and digital platforms to traditional industry channels.' The Auddia team expects to release an MVP version of the Discovr Radio platform before the end of the year or Q1 of 2026. The MVP is expected to be supported by a pilot program of participating labels and distributors. Although faidr will be the first audio app integrated into the Discovr Radio platform, the company is planning to open the platform to other radio streaming apps in the future. Upon the launch of Discovr Radio, faidr users will have the ability to like and dislike songs in real time as well as visit artist pages in the app, which provide links to listen to songs, purchase albums, tickets, merchandise, and follow the artist on social media. About Auddia Inc. Auddia, through its proprietary AI platform for audio identification and classification, is reinventing how consumers engage with AM/FM radio, podcasts, and other audio content. Auddia's flagship audio superapp, called faidr, brings multiple industry firsts to the audio streaming landscape that include: faidr also delivers exclusive content and playlists, and showcases exciting new artists, hand-picked by curators and DJs. For more information, visit: Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 about the Company's current expectations about future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. Statements that are not historical facts, such as 'anticipates,' 'believes' and 'expects' or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the Company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. These and other risks and uncertainties are discussed more fully in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are encouraged to review the section titled 'Risk Factors' in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, as well as other disclosures contained in the Annual Report and subsequent filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investor Relations: Kirin Smith, President PCG Advisory, Inc. [email protected]
