Artist Mary Ellen Croteau proves that recycling can be beautiful with her work, titled Close, made entirely of bottle caps.
According to Mary:
Plastic bottle caps – like bags, a plastic product that can’t be/isn’t recycled. I conceived of an “endless column” of these caps, after Constantin Brancussi’s iconic modernist sculpture. One became two, and two became many. While making these columns, I noticed the smaller caps tended to nest inside one another, and the color combinations reminded me of Chuck Close’s painted portraits. So I got sidetracked and started on a large self-portrait made entirely of bottle caps. The piece measures 8 feet by 7 feet. No paint is used, except to delineate a few shadows where white board was showing through. In a few cases, the caps are trimmed in order to fit a tight space.
See more detailed photos at her site.