The beauty we throw away | René Konings | TEDxArendal

Quick Overview

René Konings transforms discarded street materials like posters, tiles, and wooden scraps into meaningful art that communicates stories about identity, culture, and humanity's relationship with the environment, challenging viewers to look beyond the superficial value of everyday objects.

Key Points: Konings collected materials like posters, tiles, and wooden scraps from the streets of Berlin and other locations for his art projects. He cites the example of finding a discarded Vans shoe box and a piece of street graffiti, which he later used to create art. The speaker admits his initial approach to art was naive, focusing only on the individual quality of materials rather than their interaction. His work, which includes pieces inspired by artists like Da Vinci, Picasso, and Banksy, aims to tell stories about city life, identity, and control. He developed a technique to make the discarded materials communicate something important about humanity's place in the city and culture. Konings experienced a moment of realization in 2018 when he burst into a studio, breathless, knowing he needed to use the street materials to create art rather than wait for gallery acceptance. The presentation features two key pieces of art: a stencil-like image of a girl with purple flowers obscuring her face, and a stencil of a dog named Hajki, likely a mine detection dog.

Context: René Konings, a street artist, delivers a TEDx Arendal talk about his artistic practice, which involves sourcing materials discarded on the street—such as posters, tiles, and wood—and repurposing them into artwork. He discusses the transition from viewing these materials as garbage to recognizing their inherent narrative value, which he uses to explore themes of identity, culture, and the environment.

Detailed Analysis

René Konings explains his artistic philosophy, which centers on finding value and narrative in discarded street materials. He begins by asking the audience to imagine finding a plastic container or cheap, worn-out shoes thrown by the curb and dismissing them as garbage, contrasting this with the inherent value they might possess. Konings recounts an early experience walking in Berlin where he saw discarded materials that others overlooked, leading him to collect them. He cites his initial naivety, admitting he only cared about the individual material quality rather than how things interacted. However, his art, which he describes as being influenced by street artists like Banksy, Picasso, and Da Vinci, evolved into something symbolic on both an artistic and personal level, reflecting on humanity's place in the city and culture. He emphasizes that his work is a metaphor for an ongoing journey, using materials from the street surfaces to make art accessible to everyone. Konings specifically mentions an artwork depicting a girl with purple flowers obscuring her face, and another featuring a German Shepherd named Hajki (likely a mine detection dog), noting that these pieces carry stories about the era and origin from which the materials came. He concludes by sharing a moment from 2018 when he realized he needed to actively create art using these found objects, rather than waiting for validation from galleries, acknowledging that his initial approach was naive but that his art now seeks to communicate deeper meaning.