Why giving materials a second life is worth the trouble
STUDIO NOTES FROM THE ARTIST
Giving materials a second life isn’t just sustainable - it’s culture, memory, rebellion, and a very real creative advantage.
Upcycling is not “look how eco we are.” It’s design intelligence.
Sustainability shouldn’t be a marketing stunt - it should be common sense.
Using pre-loved materials isn’t moral superiority - it’s a design advantage.
When we use reclaimed ceramics, stone fragments, leftover marble… we extract a new geometry out of what already existed.
This is not activism. This is craft that respects resources, culture, and reality.
And real creativity thrives when you limit your inputs.
BROKEN HOOP
SHATTERED HAVEN
SQUEEZED BOUNCE
“The second life always creates stronger emotional attachment."
An object built from something that lived before has more weight. More soul. More resonance.
When you put a limited edition basketball or a mosaic wall piece in your home and you know it was born from something previously discarded - it becomes sentimental ROI.
You don’t just “own” an object. You continue its storyline. And that is worth infinitely more than factory fresh.
The trouble is exactly the value.
It’s harder. It takes longer. It’s messier.
But this type of slow craft is what makes Monkey Balling - Monkey Balling.
We don’t chase efficiency.
We chase transformation.
The future of art is not building more.
The future of art is transforming what already exists.
We live in a world that throws away fast. We choose to rebuild slow.
Giving materials a second life isn’t just sustainable - it’s culture, memory, rebellion, and a very real creative advantage. Most people see broken ceramic as trash. We see potential.
Most people see leftover marble as waste. We see character - pre-scarred, pre-lived, already carrying a history.
Upcycled materials don’t start from zero. They come with built-in time, story, texture, emotion.
When we build mosaic art or handcrafted art in Antwerp. We don’t fight for perfection… we negotiate with what was already there. That negotiation creates meaning.
This is beauty reborn. And it hits different.