What happens when an old chair, a broken toy, a scrap of wood or a discarded bottle cap becomes a work of art? For artists who work with found objects and assemblage, almost anything can be a starting point.
Found-object art is all about taking things that already exist and giving them a new meaning. Instead of starting with a blank canvas or a lump of clay, artists collect, arrange, combine or transform everyday materials into something unexpected. Sometimes the result is beautiful and delicate; sometimes it's strange, funny or deliberately uncomfortable.
The practice has a long history, from the early experiments of Cubist and Dada artists to contemporary sculptures made from thousands of discarded objects. It also raises an interesting question about sustainability: can something we consider rubbish become valuable again simply by looking at it differently?
Here are ten artists who have explored found objects and assemblage in their own distinctive ways.
1. Pablo Picasso: Bringing everyday materials into art
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Pablo Picasso helped change the way artists thought about materials in the early 20th century. In his Cubist collages and sculptures, he began incorporating ordinary things such as newspaper, rope and pieces of oilcloth into artworks, rather than simply painting pictures of them.
His 1912 work Still Life with Chair Caning is a famous example. Picasso combined painted elements with a piece of oilcloth printed to resemble chair caning, using an actual material to blur the line between an object and its representation.
It was a radical idea at the time. Why paint something when you can put the real thing into the artwork?
Picasso's experiments opened up possibilities for generations of artists, showing that art didn't have to be made entirely from traditional materials.
2. Marcel Duchamp: The art of choosing an object
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Marcel Duchamp took the idea of everyday materials in a very different direction. Rather than transforming objects through craftsmanship, he sometimes selected ordinary manufactured items and presented them as art.
His famous Fountain (1917), a porcelain urinal signed “R. Mutt”, challenged the idea that an artist had to make something by hand for it to count as art.
Duchamp called these works readymades. The important part wasn't necessarily the object itself, but the decision to select it and place it in an artistic context.
It was a provocative question: if an ordinary object is chosen and presented as art, does that change how we see it?
His work continues to influence artists who explore the meaning of everyday objects, consumer culture and the value we attach to things.
Read this article: 10 incredible facts about Marcel Duchamp
3. Kurt Schwitters: Turning rubbish into beautiful compositions
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German artist Kurt Schwitters is one of the great pioneers of collage and assemblage. He collected scraps of paper, tickets, packaging, newspaper fragments and other discarded materials, combining them into intricate compositions.
His artistic approach became known as Merz, a name he used for his experiments with collage, sculpture and even entire environments.
What makes Schwitters particularly interesting is that he didn't treat rubbish as something that needed to be hidden. Torn edges, faded colours, fragments of printed words and accidental textures became part of the artwork's character.
His compositions often look like visual diaries of everyday life, capturing the fragments of a world that might otherwise have been thrown away.
Schwitters demonstrated that discarded materials could have their own beauty, without necessarily needing to be disguised as something else.
4. Joseph Cornell: Tiny worlds made from found objects
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Joseph Cornell created some of the most enchanting assemblages of the 20th century. He collected old books, glass bottles, maps, toys, postcards and other curious objects, arranging them inside wooden boxes and cabinets.
His works often resemble miniature theatres or mysterious little museums. A collection of objects might suggest a distant place, a childhood memory or an imaginary world.
Cornell's boxes are particularly fascinating because they encourage you to look closely. Every object seems to have a reason for being there, even if you can't quite work out what it is.
His work also highlights the emotional side of collecting and reuse. An old object isn't just a piece of material; it can carry memories, associations and stories that make it worth keeping.
5. Louise Nevelson: Sculptures from salvaged wood
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Louise Nevelson became famous for her large, dramatic sculptures made from discarded wooden fragments.
She collected pieces of wood from streets, junkyards and demolition sites, including broken furniture, railings, mouldings and other architectural scraps. She then assembled them into complex sculptural compositions, often painting the entire work black, white or gold.
Her famous black wooden wall pieces can look like miniature cities, mysterious architectural ruins or enormous abstract puzzles.
Nevelson's work is a striking example of how reclaimed materials can be transformed without losing their history entirely. The shapes and textures of the original objects remain visible, but their purpose changes completely.
Instead of becoming waste, fragments of old buildings and furniture become part of a new artistic structure.
6. Robert Rauschenberg: Mixing painting with everyday life
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American artist Robert Rauschenberg helped blur the boundaries between painting, sculpture and collage.
His exhibition named 'Combines' brought together painted canvases and everyday objects, including fabrics, newspapers, furniture and other found materials. Some works look like paintings that have unexpectedly grown into three-dimensional objects.
Rauschenberg was interested in the world around him, rather than keeping art separate from ordinary life. His works can feel chaotic, humorous and full of visual information, much like the streets and homes from which his materials came.
His approach made room for a much wider range of materials in contemporary art. A piece of fabric, an old newspaper or a discarded object could become just as important as paint.
7. Betye Saar: Found objects, memory and social history
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Betye Saar uses found objects to explore identity, spirituality, family history and racism.
Her assemblages often combine objects such as old photographs, boxes, figurines, domestic items and pieces of jewellery. Many of these materials carry complicated histories, especially when they relate to racial stereotypes or the experiences of Black Americans.
One of her best-known works, The Liberation of Aunt Jemima (1972),- the red one above transforms a racist advertising figure into a powerful statement of resistance. By reworking an object that originally represented a damaging stereotype, Saar challenges the meaning it was given and reclaims it for a different purpose.
Her work demonstrates that reuse can be about more than saving materials. It can also mean reclaiming objects, questioning their history and changing the stories they tell.
8. Jannis Kounellis: The unexpected beauty of humble materials
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Jannis Kounellis was a leading figure in the Italian Arte Povera movement, which emerged in the late 1960s.
Arte Povera artists deliberately used humble, ordinary or industrial materials such as coal, soil, wood, rags and metal. They challenged the idea that art had to be made from expensive or prestigious materials.
Kounellis created installations using things like sacks of coffee, iron, stone and other raw materials. His works often feel physical and immediate, bringing the textures and smells of everyday life into the gallery.
His approach was not simply about recycling. It was about challenging the commercial values of the art world and showing that ordinary materials could have a powerful presence.
9. El Anatsui: Bottle caps transformed into monumental art
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Ghanaian artist El Anatsui is one of the most exciting contemporary artists working with found materials.
He creates enormous, shimmering sculptures from thousands of discarded aluminium bottle caps and seals, joined together with copper wire. The resulting works hang like giant tapestries, with folds, colours and patterns that can change depending on how they are displayed.
His work Dusasa II (2007), for example, uses discarded bottle caps to create a flowing, textile-like surface.
The materials have a story of their own. Bottle caps are connected to consumption, trade and the movement of goods across countries, while the finished sculptures draw on traditions of weaving and textile design.
Anatsui's work shows how materials that might otherwise be thrown away can become visually spectacular, while also encouraging us to think about the histories behind the things we consume.
10. Romuald Hazoumè: Plastic containers with a message
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Beninese artist Romuald Hazoumè is known for sculptures made from discarded plastic petrol cans, often transformed into mask-like faces.
His work draws on the everyday realities of life in West Africa, where plastic containers are widely reused to transport fuel and other liquids.
Hazoumè's sculptures can look playful or humorous at first, but they also raise questions about pollution, the global movement of goods and the effects of consumer culture.
By turning discarded containers into artworks, he makes the material itself impossible to ignore. The objects remain recognisable, but their new forms encourage us to think about where they came from and what happens to them after their original use.
His work is a powerful reminder that rubbish is not simply a local problem. Materials travel, accumulate and affect communities in different ways around the world.
Why found-object art still matters
Found-object art has never been just one style. Some artists use discarded materials to make beautiful compositions; others are interested in memory, politics, consumerism or the strange things we keep in our homes.
The sustainability connection is especially interesting. Reusing materials can reduce the need for new resources, but the environmental impact of an artwork also depends on how it is made, transported, treated and preserved. Found-object art isn't automatically sustainable simply because it contains something old.
What it does offer is a different way of looking at the objects around us.
A broken chair might become sculpture. A bottle cap might become part of a monumental artwork. An old photograph might carry a story that would otherwise be lost.
At Goodordering, we have a similar interest in giving materials another life. Our upcycled bags collection brings together bags made from reclaimed and repurposed materials, turning things that already exist into something useful again.
Whether it's an artist collecting scraps for a sculpture or a designer finding a new use for old fabric, the idea is the same: sometimes the most interesting material isn't something new, but something we've overlooked.
Final thoughts
Found-object artists remind us that creativity doesn't always begin with a blank page. It can begin with a pile of things that have been discarded, forgotten or left behind.
From Picasso's early experiments with collage to El Anatsui's enormous bottle-cap sculptures, these artists have changed the way we think about materials and what art can be made from.
And perhaps that's the most interesting thing about found-object art: it asks us to look twice at the everyday things around us, and imagine what else they could become.
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I am a designer, trend forecaster and independent brand founder living in East London, UK with my rainbow family. For advertising or collaborations please contact jacqui@goodordering.com
