Author: Troy Neiman

I love to manipulate raw and recycled materials for the purpose of creating beautiful and often times functional work that displays my own aesthetic. Clay, metal, wood and paint are my primary media to work with. I prefer to reuse discarded materials and found objects when possible. I find great satisfaction in giving new life to the old and find few things more beautiful than objects that age gracefully. I enjoy the heirloom qualities of these materials for their ability to gain character and withstand time, creating a particular type of beauty that is rarely represented in the disposable nature of so many objects in our lives today

Edifice for the Unwanted

Public Art, Recycled/Found Material
Photo by Bill Hatcher

Steel/Concrete/Recycled Materials

40’x16’x100’

2018

Public Art Commission at the Los Reales Landfill in Tucson, AZ.- Using recycled materials to tell the story of where stuff ends, at the landfill. I wanted to capture the color and the movement ( and the birds ) you experience at the landfill. The items used on the left represent more raw versions of materials and as they cycle over to the right side your eye can begin to pick out more and more items from our daily lives and they again get “buried” to the far right. The brick pillars are built from dozens of historical buildings that Tucson has lost over the years from demolition and the center piece is a nod to the historical privy pits of the past where most household trash of the time was discarded.

Photo by Bill Hatcher

Sage Grouse

Bicycle Art, Other objects and projects, Recycled/Found Material

IMG_1184

Sage Grouse

17″x12″x12″

Bicycle parts and scrap materials

Greater Sage-Grouse population to decline from 16 million 100 years ago to between 200,000 and 500,000 today due to residential and building and energy development.  This was a commission for a man who has spent much of his life fighting to turn around the decline.

Watch a video of the unique strut display

Agave Bike Rack at Historic Y

Bicycle Art, Other objects and projects, Recycled/Found Material

New Agave Bike Racks at the Historic Y Center for the Arts, Education and the Environment.  I started with round steel tubing and bent them into four, 6 foot circles and then cut them up to get the desired shapes and added in some recycled bicycle parts.   I am really excited about all the possibilities with the new shapes. IMG_0079

Fence for Tully Elementary School Garden

Bicycle Art, Gates and Architectual Metalwork, Public Art, Recycled/Found Material

Tully Elementary School has turned an old unused asphalt pad into an awesome garden complete with many fruit trees, native plants, water harvesting basins, a cistern that holds water runoff from the roof and feeds it to the plants with an irrigation system.  Only problem is that the Javelina’s keep coming in at night and chowing down on all the new plantings ( these things will eat cactus, spines and all).
They need a fence!IMG_3006Tully Elementary School Fence

he School was able to complete this project with a grant from CPPW (Community’s Putting Prevention to Work).  They had a fairly small budget for this project but we were able to keep the costs down by collecting old boards, scrap metal, and bicycle wheels to use in the fence.  Much of the steel tubing was purchased second-hand at a scrap yard.

Frisbee Golf Pin

Bicycle Art, Recycled/Found Material

Yes,  A frisbee golf (or frolf for those that prefer) pin.  I have been wanting to make one of these for years and this was the year.  Besides the center pole which is from an old Basketball hoop, the rest is completely built out of bike parts.  The bike chain works very well to drop the disk.  I used to play a lot during the summers when I lived in Madison, WI and was spoiled with beautiful 18-hole courses in huge city parks.  Now in Tucson we are not quite so lucky to have such courses but I have still managed to play a couple of times.   Anyway,  It was fun to play with this for a few days before it was put into the BICAS Art Auction and yes its to regulation size.

Second Street School Day of the Dead Altar

Bicycle Art, Other objects and projects, Recycled/Found Material

Second Street Children’s School Commissioned myself through BICAS to build a Day of the Dead Altar that will remain active all year round. This will be a place for the students to remember family members, pets, birds, bugs and plants that have passed on. A number of shelves allow for a place to leave offerings and keepsakes. I built this Alter using Steel and scrap bicycle parts, the boards are from the old shelves at our beloved Casa Video. 6′ x 3.5′ x 8″

I wanted to share this picture that they sent me  with the altar decorated by the kids.

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Derailleur Chicken-This 100lbs Chicken was sold at the BICAS art auction Dec 5th 2010

Bicycle Art, Recycled/Found Material

This 100 lbs chicken is made almost entirely of bicycle front derailleurs,  hundreds of them!  I know what your thinking and don’t worry, BICAS still has more than enough derailleurs for you to fix your bicycle.  30”x 30”x 24”.  Sold at the 2010, 15th Annual,IMG_4040 BICAS Art Auction Fundraiser.