Some artists might choose a scenic landscape or the human body as the subjects of their craft, but Sean Boyd of Octalien finds inspiration from junk. Items thrown away at the Localised Tāmaki Zero Waste Hub turn into fantastic sci-fi sculptures when placed into Sean’s hands: kettles become robot heads; colanders become parts of a rocket; computer monitor stands become the legs of an android.
“I get excited when I walk into a recycling centre – my heart rate rises and I’m excited about what I’m going to find,” says Sean. “To me, it looks like several spaceships have just crashed into that yard, and it’s full of the debris that I’m going to go make something creative from.”
Trash items to collect for creating art.
As one of the artists in residence at the Tāmaki Zero Waste Hub, Sean’s workshop and studio are within the Tāmaki Community Recycling Centre (CRC) and just a few steps away from areas where people recycle whiteware, electrical appliances and other household items. Sean usually has several sci-fi-themed artworks on the go and searches through dumped and donated pieces daily to find items to add to his creations.
“I usually start with the item and then let the idea come from there. I choose pieces that are no longer working and can’t be sold in the CRC shop or reused again, and I attach them using bolts, screws and pressure. I don’t use welding – I feel like that's cheating somehow, as I like the challenge of connecting things,” he explains.
“I love that junk has another life. I look at an old sink tap from a school and think it’s had a lifetime of children washing their hands, but at the end of its life, it just unceremoniously gets tossed into a landfill. When I get hold of it, it becomes the handle to a ray gun or the eyes of a robot. And all of a sudden, people start looking at it, going, ‘Wow, look at that’. It turns the mundane into superstars.”
Sean uses scrap metal to create his artworks and creations which now have a new purpose.
This robot head artwork called Grim Viewson - AI misfortune teller is made from a kettle, whisk, desk flip clock, a 1950s truck parking light, water pump housing and a serving tray stand.
Growing up, Sean says he wasn’t good at drawing or painting at school and thought he wasn’t creative. He discovered his creativity later in life – before becoming a full-time artist he had several careers in the police, as a probation officer, mechanic and working in a panel beater. One day in 2012, he felt a creative itch and made a replica ray gun from bits and pieces in his garage. The ray gun made TradeMe’s Cool Auctions list, and Sean has since sold items worldwide and had pieces on display in the foyer of World of WearableArt (WOW) and The Mind Lab.
While his work has a sci-fi theme, particularly space-age robots and cyborgs, Sean says he’s not a superfan of science fiction movies – with the exception of the first three Star Wars movies, which “filled his cup for a lifetime”. His work is fun and playful but also a social commentary about the amount of waste sent to landfills.
This robot cyclops artwork entitled Deep Ocean Planet Scout (DOPS) has a light in its eye and electric motor cooling fins for hands. The head is made from a stage spotlight and his body is comprised of a sewing machine, scooter shocks, circular saw guard, vacuum cleaner parts and ski bindings.
“There is so much waste. We’re seeing more and more cheap products – items such as microwaves, oil heaters or cheap power tools that still work or are easily repaired, and yet are being sent to landfill when their owners upgrade their appliances,” he says.
One of the best parts of his work is being part of the community at the CRC and meeting members of the public who are often amazed by his creations.
“I love seeing the public looking at my work and trying to figure it out. You meet people from all walks of life. There are lots of other creative and innovative businesses within the centre, and it’s great to talk to them about their work or to bounce ideas off them.”
Localised Zero Waste Hubs General Manager Carla van Walen says Sean is one of 230 community partners working alongside CRCs across Auckland to use waste collected in inorganic rubbish services.
Sean with Localised Zero Waste Hubs General Manager Carla van Walen.
“In the Tāmaki facility we have several tenants. We’ve got Octalien, who takes scrap metal and recycles it into amazing works of art. We’ve got the Restylist, who takes old furniture and gives it a new lick of paint and upholstery. And we’ve got the Glen Innes Family Centre, which takes lawnmowers and whiteware then fixes them and sells them, and those funds go back into the programmes at the Family Centre,” says Carla.
“This is a really amazing partnership between Localised, Auckland Council and Waste Management, who bring the material here on site. A lot of the community groups that receive materials from the inorganics distribution warehouse wouldn’t be able to do the great work they do without having the opportunity to take this material for free, so we’re allowing our communities to flourish,” she adds.
The Tāmaki Zero Waste Hub is home to:
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Tāmaki Community Recycling Centre where Aucklanders can drop off items for recycling and reuse or buy items at the Reuse Shop. For opening hours and more information, please visit here.
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Warehousing, processing and distribution of material is recovered from Auckland’s Inorganic Collection Service. Find out how you can book your annual inorganic collection here.
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Much of the collected material is donated to charities and community groups. Here is how you register to become a registered collector.
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Repair and upcycling enterprises like Octalien which keep valuable resources out of landfill and in use.
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Localised and the Zero Waste Network.
Sean keeps an array of parts such as springs and wires within his workshop to use on his creations.
