Exhibit is a fun way to take in the trash

July 09, 2009|Cate McQuaid, Globe Correspondent

SALEM - A cuddly bunny crafted from used cigarette filters. A giant moth made from old piano keys and lawnmower handles. A huge centipede built out of discarded Bundt cake pans.

These are some of the unlikely creatures populating “Trash Menagerie,’’ a lighthearted and informative exhibit of animal sculptures made out of recycled rubbish at the Peabody Essex Museum’s Art & Nature Center, an interactive gallery aimed at kids and their families.

There’s no end to art made out of recyclables. The idea came into vogue in the early 20th century, when such artists as Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque started recycling newspapers and the like in collages and Marcel Duchamp dubbed a urinal “Fountain’’ and called it “readymade’’ art. It has never really gone out of style, and in recent years heightened focus on the environment has given it a particular cachet. Having a green sheen doesn’t necessarily make art good, of course.

By and large, the sculptures here are quirky and appealing, playing to kids and grownups alike. Jane Winchell, director of the Art & Nature Center, has tapped artists from around the country for this ample if not entirely original show.

There are 30 critters in “Trash Menagerie,’’ ranging from micro-organisms to horses and giraffes. A few too many of them have a familiar mechanical charm that begins to grate. Works such as Leo Sewell’s “Elephant,’’ made of campaign buttons, jewelry, and knitting needles, and Ann Smith’s “Camel,’’ crafted from electronic bits and machine parts, can’t shake the whiff of the flea market: low-end thingamabobs cleverly constructed into cutesy knickknacks. Smith, though, adds an intriguing dimension by bringing her sculptures alive in clever stop-motion animated shorts, on view at a computer station in the exhibit.

The best of the works make fresh use of unusual materials. Tom Deininger’s “Filter Rabbit’’ is a great example: What could be more revolting than working with cigarette butts? Never mind; best not to go there. Deininger collects the used filters along the beach. The rabbit, sitting alertly on his hind legs, stands just over a foot tall and looks like a well loved stuffed animal.

Heidi Aishman draws perky, snuggly animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs with discarded, sparkly makeup. They’ve got the dazzle and appeal of great children’s book illustrations and a wonderfully subversive agenda: The drawings, such as the plump, pink-cheeked “Outrageous Guinea Pig,’’ depict animals used in the testing of cosmetics. Talk about all dolled up and no place to go. Nemo Gould’s “Centipede,’’ more than 4 feet long, undulates across the wall in Bundt-cake swells; nested with green LEDs, it casts a delightfully eerie glow.