The buildings we call home, the things we use every day, and the technologies we depend on would quickly become useless without constant repair and maintenance.

Recycling and reuse can also be an essential stimulus for invention and innovation. They force us to look at things differently and experiment with novel solutions to familiar problems.

Artists are often at the forefront of such experimentation.

French modernist Marcel Duchamp made reuse a central part of his practice when he selected everyday objects such as a bottle rack, a snow shovel, and, most famously, a urinal, as “readymades”.

Pablo Picasso showed a real flair for recycling in his collages and “assemblages”, turning torn newspaper, children’s toys and broken furniture into creative media.

More recently, Girrimay/Kuku Yilanji/Yidinji artist Tony Albert has transformed “Aboriginalia” into a compelling reminder of both the racial prejudice at the heart of Australian culture and the powerful presence of those who endure this prejudice.

He reuses ashtrays, tea towels and other mundane items adorned with harmful stereotypes. By gathering them together and holding them to scrutiny in a public context, Albert forces us to acknowledge our role in ensuring this invisibility.

By reusing and repurposing everyday objects, contemporary artists create powerful points of connection between their work and the daily experience of their........

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