Exploring the waste stream through film and photography

Meet the two new Moab Arts Reuse Residency artists

When Moab Arts debuted its “Reuse Residency,” assistant director Melisa Morgan didn’t realize how popular the program would become. The month-long residency invites artists from all over the world to spend one month in Moab creating art from items found in Moab’s waste stream. 

Since its launch in 2021, the program has hosted three residencies; on August 1, Moab Arts welcomed two new artists, Tom Hansell and Renée Reizman, as part of its second Reuse Residency program of this year.

“In 2022, our staff looked to expand the program: first, to host multiple residents together to allow for the possibility of collaboration and new friendships to form, and second, to trial two residency periods as opposed to one to accommodate the interest,” Morgan said. “There is an abundance of excitement around the intersection of reuse and creative practice, and sustainability is increasingly important to large numbers of artists worldwide.”

This year’s program has taken on a new form because artists are no longer required to donate a finished work to the City of Moab’s permanent collection, Morgan said. 

For the August residency, the artists are encouraged to create place-specific work that centers around community participation. Moab’s waste stream is ever-evolving—it’s difficult then to expect that every artist will be able to create a finished product in only one month. 

“Instead of expecting artists to produce a finished work, we have chosen to champion the process and celebrate the questions and ideas that arise over the course of developing their individual projects,” Morgan said. “Striking a balance between creating an experience that is nourishing and beneficial for the resident artists while also being nourishing and beneficial for the local community is part of what we hope to do, in addition to the residency’s mission to challenge the perception of waste culture.” 

Hansell is a filmmaker, author and artist: during the residency, he will host a series of two-hour film workshops during which participants will create short films on themes of waste, art, and reuse. The workshops will take place on August 9, 16, and 23 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the MARC. The finished films will be projected onto a large screen that Hansell will create from upcycled materials. 

“Recent advances in cell phones and social media have increased people’s access to the tools of filmmaking, so more folks have the ability to tell their own stories,” Hansell said. “The challenge is how to present stories that are unique to your place. I hope that I can help residents learn new angles to tell the many stories of Moab.” 

Hansell is looking forward to the opportunity to work with repurposed materials and the landscape and culture of Moab, he said: “Seeing people actively work to build community is inspiring to me, so I’m looking forward to meeting folks that are engaged in making Moab a more sustainable place.” 

Reizman is an artist focusing on infrastructure, public policy, and the environment. Through her art, she explores the “utilities and services that make cities operate,” she said, “and I like showing people how these systems affect the way we live and interact with one another.” 

“For this project, I’m really interested in thinking about ways policing can be reformed so that it reduces violence,” she said. “Sanitation workers often collaborate with law enforcement to locate evidence and solve crime, but they aren’t a weaponized force. I think sanitation can open a door into thinking about what an alternative world of law enforcement and community protection could look like.” 

During the residency, Reizman will first interview staff at the Canyonlands Solid Waste Authority about their experience with crime, then will create artistic portraits by costuming staff as detectives. 

“Their stories about working with forensics and collaborating with law enforcement are really going to shape the direction of the photos,” she said. The portraits are intended to be approachable and somewhat humorous—Reizman wants the final work to get people thinking about policing in a “speculative way that still leads to actionable ideas,” she said. 

Reizman will also host a public workshop: on August 22 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the MARC, Reizman will teach participants the basics of Gimp, a free photo editing software, to create collages that will then be printed on postcards. 

“The opportunity to weave in the expertise and perspectives of many folks working to keep our community healthy and vibrant into the future feels exciting,” Morgan said, “and it’s always incredible to build relationships with new residents, who bring the gifts of their perspectives and outstanding practices to our one-of-a-kind desert community.” 

You can find more information about the workshops at www.moabarts.org. Keep up with Tom Hansell at www.tomhansell.net and Renée Reizman at www.reneereizman.com.

Author: Ali Harford

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