Waste Land Review

Lamont Bowman

3/18/14

Prof Mathews

Photography IV

                                                                 Movie Review: Waste Land
       Waste Land directed by Lucy Walker and co-directed by João Jardim and Karen Harley, features renowned artist Vik Muniz journeys from his home in Brooklyn to his Brazil and to the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs the self-designated pickers of the recyclable materials called “catadores”.

     When we throw out our garbage, we think it goes to some facility where some machines burn the undesirables while it recycles the reusable items such as bottles and cans. But in fact it goes to landfill sites like Jardim Granacho, where Tião and 3,000 other people titled “catadores” sort out each and every piece of garbage they find to be sold to commercial recycling companies. And while the group is paid for their work, it isn’t enough to help them nor their families as some are willing to eat the unfinished food from the landfills. As Vik and his crew work on their own project called “Pictures of Garbage” where he recreates classical paintings using garbage, he starts to become more attached to the workers as he starts to explore their lives. One moment that struck me was when a woman named Suelem Pereira Dias finds a dead baby in one of the piles and says that she immediately thought about her own kids. It struck me as a surreal moment; maybe one or twice you would hear stories about someone abandoning their child in a dumpster but here was a woman retelling those events and how she felt at the moment.

   

As Vik finishes his project, he invites Tião to an auction in London where he sells one of the prints titled “Marat (Sebastião)” which sells for $50,000 and causes Tião to weep uncontrollably. The other prints are featured at an exhibition in Rio, which overwhelms the group as they see themselves in a different light. The movie ends with a very positive light as it tells the viewer what happens to Vik and the catadores. The prints from Vik’s project ends up making $250,000 which helped Tião open up learning center and bring in more equipment for their group. Other members like Zumbi or Irma where able to realize their dreams with the money they have received.

   This movie was not a biography of the artist, but a look at the artist in the context of the community in which his art is created and how did it affect them. It will move you to tears as you truly feel for these people who only seek to better their community and themselves and will cause you to re-think certain aspects of your life. It will also show you that art isn’t a pastime for those who can afford it but something that all people can experience.