Tache with Trash: an image of integrating art with upcycling in the city of the future

Summary Art is rarely imagined as a strategic approach in the design of the future city. The purpose here is to offer a perspective on future cities that resides at the intersection of art and the practice of upcycling. I dub this perspective ‘Tache with Trash’, offering an artistic design for busy locales based on transforming recyclable waste into a vibrant spectrum of colours. Applicable in places like shopping malls, campuses and convention centres, I envision individuals disposing of trash in a shredding machine that injects those fragments into transparent containers, such as glass ornaments and glass wall panels. Disposing of recyclable trash becomes like dabbing a tache (stain, spot, blob) of pigment on an artwork. Rooted in the theoretical framework of ‘envisioning the future’, this perspective is inspired by the ‘junk art’ genre and aims to integrate communal art with sustainable upcycling. The benefits of the perspective include enhancing social interaction on sustainability, serving as a tool for younger generations’ sustainability education, providing a platform for local artists and assisting crowded centres with economization.