Fiesta del Pretty Dirty

Pretty Dirty
Photo Credit: Ernesto De Anda

Fascination with fame & giveaways. Aztec dancers. Carnival rides. This performance was different than any other performance we have done. As the largest Latino festival in the Midwest, it was a bumping 4-day party with music, food, art, and rides. It's amazing that this is their 40th year raising money for the community of Pilsen, a Chicago neighborhood known for its rich Mexican American culture and eclectic art scene.

This performance stood out among the other performances because my conversations with people were so long and involved. I got a number of confused looks and "smiles and nods", but when one person was interested in talking to me, we really connected.

My favorite ideas of creative reuse that came from these conversations:
1) I threw away a paper flyer. I can make it into a kit, airplane, and pirate hat!
2) After I finish my ice cream, I could take this styrofoam cup, cut it into concentric circles, have them fold into one another so that it becomes a cup holder.
3) I have this empty plastic cup. Instead of throwing it away, it can be a pencil/crayon holder or an emergency male toilet!
4) I like to take plastic bottles, cut off the top portion, flip it, and make them into birthday cake candle holders.
5) I have used plastic cups as my bra before.
6) My daughter makes dresses out of coffee filters and other found materials. [Then she showed me pics of these dresses on her phone.]

What a diverse group of ideas! Thanks to Nancy Judd from Recycle Runway, I had a number of recycled plastic bands that she wanted us to write an eco pledge on and display publicly. I decided to incorporate these items into the performance and give people who came up with unique creative reuse ideas a bracelet with their ideas written on it. It turned out great!

I was surprised to see so many styrofoam cups and trays. I know it's still cheaper to buy foam products, but I wonder how long that will be until the renewable alternatives are more cost effective. I was also surprised to see a number of McDonald's sundae cups. I guess people were getting their golden arches fix before their tacos?

After going through 13 trash cans and picking up items along the street, we went to the park and watched the Aztec dancers perform (the drums were hypnotic) , and then we ended the performance by riding on the classic Ferris wheel. It was a fabulous day for trash!

Learn more about Pretty Dirty.

Contributor: Hanh Pham