Plastic forest classical sketch

Opposite Upcycle Aesthetic – Plastic Forest

Andrew Widner
Post 4 - 2025 : Opposite Upcycle Aesthetic
4 Comments

My plastic forest project has shifted a bit from a trashy aesthetic to more of a modern / contemporary art aesthetic. I am planning on painting the board that the all black tree supports will sit on black, with 3D printed white text reading “plastic forest”. Again, this will follow a contemporary art aesthetic with the simple (black and white) color choice and clean abstract nature of the project.

The opposite of this aesthetic I would imagine to be something along the lines of classical art. Classical art is what contemporary art at large sought to break down. Classical art sought to convey culturally conventional themes like mythology, religion, and the ideal human form. Contemporary art follows a more abstract goal of conveying complex human emotions, subjective truths, and social concepts. My art project, (which again, truthfully serves little to no functional purpose) is meant to invoke a sense of wonder and reflection in the user about how incredibly complex 3D printing tree supports are, and how easily this beautiful geometry is thrown away.

A sketch of what a classical interpretation of my project would look like is seen below:

Plastic forest classical sketch
Plastic forest classical sketch

This ‘classical’ version of my project would likely be a painting of one of these tree supports in a pasture, with a frame made of wood surrounding it with the plastic forest text being displayed below, maybe on a little plaque.

To replicate this design myself, I would likely need the paint, stained wood, and carpentry skills to do so. The only materials that I would have to do this is the plywood board I am currently planning as using for the platform of the tree supports to be glued on, but this is hardly a nice enough wood to use with a frame.

Again, this is the ideal layout of my project in its actual contemporary format

Plastic forest initial sketch

4 Comments. Leave new

  • Rauba, Grady
    February 16, 2025 11:42 pm

    Hi Andrew, very cool idea to make a recycled plastics forest, and I do agree that the contemporary nature of this project is the opposite of classical art. I have a question about you project and how this would change its opposite aesthetic. Do you envision your plastic forest being all one color, for example white? I thought this would further contrast the colorful mosaics and paintings I envision when I think of classical artwork.

    • Andrew Widner
      February 21, 2025 9:01 pm

      Hey Rauba,

      Yes, my final design ended up being all black! And like you mentioned, this further contrasts with the colorful nature of classical artwork. Good observation! I think it definitely turned out well in terms of matching with contemporary artwork. Give my post a look! Thanks for the feedback.

  • Rystan Qualls
    February 16, 2025 11:08 am

    Hey Andrew, I enjoyed this quick read on a few different renditions of your upcycling project. I remember when you first told me about this, and I was immediately curious abut the direction you were heading in. While simple at its core, I think with a little tweaks your project could definitely have a more of a modern art aesthetic. Maybe you could have created some molds using the tree supports and filled them with plaster ! Excited to see the final project.

    • Andrew Widner
      February 21, 2025 9:02 pm

      Hi Rystan,

      Thanks! I really appreciate it. I think the molds Idea would honestly be really cool… if I had time to do it haha. I think in the future using these little tree supports as potential sources of roots or sticks when someone is making a mold could be a great way to recycle them. Thanks for the feedback!

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