‘Elemental’ by Leeroy New: Working with ‘Liter of Light’ to Showcase Beauty in Sustainability and Advocate for Equal Access to Solar Powered Lights in the Philippines

As part of the 2023 Christmas Festival of Lights at the Ayala Mall, Makati, Philippines, local artist Leeroy New has created a large installation piece titled Elemental. The reversed water-drop-shaped piece is made of intricately fused together recycled materials such as water gallons, plastic bottles, cable ties and more. Since it is part of a light festival, Elemental will, of course, have to light up at night and mesmerize its audiences.

Photograph of Leeroy New with some of his upcycled pieces. Image courtesy of Metro Style.

New chose to engage Liter of Light in a partnership to help him light up the piece. They are a non-profit organization committed to providing solar-powered lights for underserved communities around the globe, including the Philippines. This means that New’s Elemental encourages people to upcycle trash and helps draw people’s attention to the work that Liter of Light does. It advocates their cause to the public, encouraging them to donate and do what they can to help further the movement. This is why Elemental by Leeroy New is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Affordable and Clean Energy and Responsible Consumption and Production.

Elemental by Leeroy New, lit up at night. Image courtesy of art+ Phillippines.

Since their establishment in 2013, Liter of Light has illuminated the lives of over one million people in 30 different countries. Litre of Light does this by teaching and helping communities make their own high-quality lighting from recycled plastic bottles. The bottles are filled with water and a small amount of bleach, creating a low-cost light bulb powered by micro-solar panels and batteries. In the Philippines, they partnered with local non-profit My Shelter Foundation to benefit over 160,000 homes in just over 20 months of programming. This is the type of real on-the-ground progress that New’s work is highlighting through his public art installation.

Elemental Art Pod Studies by Leeroy New. Image courtesy of Art House.

Elemental consists of a few gigantic structures that tower over people, made entirely out of recycled materials. When lit up at night, they look like something from outer space. They sway in the wind as if they are alien trees from a planet far away. One where carbon life forms resemble inanimate objects on Earth. Humans currently produce more than 350 metric tons of plastic waste a year, causing a multitude of problems for the environment. Keeping this in mind, New’s pieces are then a sort of macabre cautionary tale, of a future where plastic waste has taken over. So much so, that even the trees are made out of them, rendering life on Earth alien.

Elemental by Leeroy New, on display at Circuit Makati. Image courtesy of BluPrint.

Considering how today microplastics have found its way into everything from fish to human blood and testes, finding them in plants may just be the next step in the planet’s heavily man-influenced evolution. By partnering with Liter of Light, Leeroy New is giving people a spark of hope, showing that despite today’s darkness, there are still a very large number of people who are trying their best to make decisions that are good for both humanity and the planet.

Find out more about Elemental by Leeroy New and their other pieces by checking his website www.leeroynew.com or Instagram @newleeroy.