Landfill Harmonic is a documentary in the works about an orchestra in a Paraguayan slum whose instruments are made entirely of garbage. I was so inspired after watching the short trailer (below). These people’s ingenuity and vision is astounding. So often I throw things out simply because I don’t know what to do with it or where to put it. I don’t really think about giving it a second life. We live a life of excess where ingenuity takes a back seat to the ease of consumption.
This story got me thinking about letting creativity extend beyond school and Photoshop, but rather making it a part of everyday life: what we choose to do with what we have or how to do without what we don’t. That’s the basis of creativity. We often think of a creative person as someone who knows how to draw or paint or compose a piece of music, but creativity is much more than that. It’s about finding a new way of doing things. It’s about finding a way to transcend your environment and circumstances and make due with what you’ve been given and making something beautiful. I love the opening quote:
“The world sends us garbage. We send back music.”
To think of the potential that lies in a piece of trash and in a human being who we would normally pity or overlook, at first fills me with shame, but it is also rejuvenating to think of the potential that lies in every thing and every person regardless of the status we assign them. It is beautiful to think that no matter where you are in life, there is always beauty to be seen and made.
Landfill Harmonic is a Kickstarter project and they’re still trying to reach their goal. If you find yourself as inspired by this story as I was, definitely give them your support.
Dots 