E.

The design intent of this folly is to create an apparatus for the display and exchange of an urban currency: bottles & cans. This installation provides a canvas for public inter­action, showcasing an often unseen process by which bottles are discarded and subsequently retrieved to be redeemed for cash value at recycling centers. Not only is this providing an opportunity for Rochester’s disadvantaged; it is a billboard for upcycling - turn­ing “waste” into art, as well as recycling - deposit­ing plastic and aluminum to be reborn as something new. By inviting the public to manipulate the folly in a “take one, leave one” fashion, it will be a dynamic, ever-evolving showpiece of urban, community art.

Our hope is that bottles & cans will be added constantly, but especially during events like the Jazz Festival, Fringe Festival, and Food Truck Rodeos. Be­cause it cannot be predicted how exactly the structure will be populated, the design team proposes weekly interventions to replenish bottles & reestablish an inviting design through color and pattern. We estimate that over 5,000 bottles & cans will be recycled by the comple­tion of the 100-day installation.