Designer Ryan Christensen of Steelplant has come up with a very chic urban way to store books and desk accessories or as a container for live plants and other objects.
His Steelplant Edition One are a series of artist-decorated "Desktop Dumpsters." The graffiti-painted miniature steel dumpsters are each one of a kind and look just like the real thing. Dumpsters are cut, formed, and welded up from 14 gauge (1/16") 25-35% recycled steel. When empty, they weigh nine pounds. The lid tiles are milled from a wood/plastic composite material that is made from plastic bags and sawdust that would otherwise go to a dump somewhere.
Once built they are given to an artist, or multiple artists to be painted, inked, glued, printed, distressed, whatever. Each dumpster is unique in the first edition. The art and application methods will change with each release.
In Ryan's own words:
"Steelplant was born out of a massive year-long brainstorming session I had. Back in November of 2010 while working like mad on a catalog for a client, I got a serious overuse injury that crippled me for a year. During this time It occured (sic)to me how important it was to make objects with my hands. I also realized that I needed a creative outlet that wasn't limited by factors out of my control. When I was finally well enough to use my hands again I turned my thoughts into sketches, and my sketches into Steelplant."
Shop for them here