luxury garbage
“luxury garbage” is a series of sculptures that require the artist to visit abandoned locations and scrap yards to collect the materials that make up the final sculpture. Burelli then meticulously polishes and cleans specific parts of these recycled materials to “mirror finish.” burelli uses strictly steel and gas-based lights within this series.
what was once putrid, rusty, and decript trash and refuse now shines and bears the reflection of its on-lookers. rust still populates the work but now it bears new symbolism due to its proximity to areas that shine. what was once filth is now history - a passage of time and an aesthetic that tells a story of these objects’ lives as well as the locations in which they are found.
this series also critique’s rampant wasteful production practices within the art industry, as well as the market’s many times arbitrary designation of value and the practice of tokenizing artists and exploiting personality rather than developing quality and giving importance to craftsmanship, skill, and concept.
commisions of “luxury garbage“ are available and each work is a 1 of 1 original hand selected, polished, and arranged by Santiago Burelli in the location of said commission.
each work is also paired with a conceptual poem laser cut into steel sheet that delineates the history and process behind each specific sculpture.
price available upon request