Art is Trash Books
Introduction: “Art is Trash” — An Oxymoron as Manifesto
“Art is Trash” sounds at first provocative, even self-denigrating: how can art be trash? But that tension is the core of Francisco de Pájaro’s (aka Art is Trash) creative vision. What superficially reads like a dismissal is in fact a challenge: art is entangled with waste, with the cast-off, with the ephemeral. In Pájaro’s work, trash is material, medium, metaphor, and mirror.
His book (or books) condenses that tension into a curated archive: photographs, essays, reflections, and documentation of works that often disappear as soon as they are created. The volume is an attempt to arrest ephemerality, to freeze in time what might otherwise vanish with the next garbage truck.
If you want to see or order the book, you can check the listing here: Art is Trash – Book at Artevistas (signed copies, drawings, etc.).
https://www.artevistas.eu/product/art-is-trash-book/ Artevistas gallery+1
The Book(s): Editions, Format, Content
Editions & Pricing
On the Artevistas site, Art is Trash – Book is offered at 50,00 € for a standard signed book. There is also an option for a signed copy with an original unique drawing on the first page, priced at 120 €. Artevistas gallery The listing shows multiple images of the book and details about the artist’s associated works. Artevistas gallery
The book is also available from other sources (e.g. Amazon) under the title Art is Trash by Francisco de Pájaro. Amazon The ISBN is 978-84-15967-34-7 (or 8415967349). eBay+1 It comprises approximately 192 pages. eBay+1
Structure, Visuals & Text
According to various sources, the book is organized around key thematic sections such as Outdoor BCN is Trash, Manifesto, LDN is Trash, Indoor Works & Installations, etc. eBay It includes forewords (e.g. by Tommy Blanquiere) and credits to galleries such as Westbank Gallery in London and Base Elements in Barcelona. eBay
The visual material is rich: street installations, sculptures from abandoned materials, ephemeral compositions in urban settings. Some works are deliberately transient; the text often frames them as performances against neglect, consumer waste, or the hegemony of conventional gallery aesthetics.
The Artist & Philosophy Behind “Art is Trash”
About Francisco de Pájaro / Art is Trash
Francisco de Pájaro, working under the moniker Art is Trash, is a Spanish street artist whose confrontational, playful, and often grotesque aesthetic uses discarded objects, detritus, trash bags, mattresses, debris, and everyday urban waste. AbeBooks+3BEST SELF+3eBay+3 His works appear in cities like Barcelona, London, and New York, often in public space, confronting passersby with a visceral dialogue between art, waste, and urban decay. eBay+2BEST SELF+2
In interviews and essays, Pájaro has expressed frustration with traditional gallery systems: rejected exhibitions in Barcelona pushed him toward making art outside institutional constraints, directly in the streets. BEST SELF One telling anecdote: he painted “El arte es basura” (“Art is trash”) on an abandoned wardrobe, which drew attention and eventually helped crystallize his public identity as Art is Trash. BEST SELF
Philosophy & Themes
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Ephemerality and Decay
Pájaro draws connections to indigenous and ritualistic traditions that celebrate impermanence (e.g. sand mandalas). BEST SELF His street works often vanish — scavenged, removed, or simply dismantled by municipal cleanup. The book is a way to “freeze” those fleeting gestures into permanence. -
Waste as Medium & Critique
Trash becomes a material of expression. A transparent bag of soda cans can be anthropomorphized; debris can become a monster. Through recontextualization, waste critiques overconsumption, pollution, urban neglect, and the disposable culture. BEST SELF -
Public / Anti-Gallery Stance
By intervening in streets and non-white-cube settings, Pájaro subverts the elitism of gallery spaces. He claims that trash is a kind of “no man’s land” not owned or valued, thus safe ground for artistic interventions. BEST SELF -
Humor, Grotesque & Absurdity
His installations often mix macabre, dark humor, absurd juxtapositions (e.g. a mattress hiding a terrorist holding an Uzi whose barrel is a paint roller). BEST SELF The grotesque serves as shock, but also as satire — exaggerating social and political blind spots.
Critical Reception, Influence & Interpretation
Critical Reception
While Art is Trash is not yet a mainstream art history staple, it has drawn attention in street-art circles and art blogs. On Goodreads, it is described as “the first book to showcase the work, philosophy and evolution” of Pájaro’s artistic practice. Goodreads Some reviews note its boldness and the challenge of making something that resists permanence into a “book.”
BestSelfMedia calls Art Is Trash: The Street Art of Francisco de Pájaro an “astonishing alchemy of the street,” praising the work’s ability to provoke, unsettle, and reflect. BEST SELF
Because many works are site-specific and temporal, the book functions as both catalog and archive — rescuing from oblivion works that otherwise would disappear.
Interpretive Lenses & Larger Art Contexts
Ephemeral Art & the Archive
Pájaro’s work participates in a lineage of ephemeral art — works that are inherently temporary, from performance to land art, sand mandalas, ice sculptures, etc. The tension is classic: how do we archive or document what is designed to resist permanence? The book is an answer to that tension, acting as a (partial) fossil of transient acts.
This reminds me of other artworks that play with disappearance — for instance, Agrippa (A Book of the Dead) by William Gibson & Dennis Ashbaugh, a work designed to self-destruct or fade. Wikipedia
Trash / Found Object in Art History
The use of found materials — debris, detritus, garbage — has precedents in 20th century avant-garde art: Duchamp’s readymades, the Nouveau Réalisme assemblages, Arte Povera, and more recently, installation artists working with consumer waste or recycling. Pájaro’s work brings that into the street, directly encountering waste in its ecological, social, and urban contexts.
Street Art, Protest & Urban Ecology
Street art itself is often political or socially minded. Pájaro’s emphasis on trash is a double critique: of consumer capitalism, and of urban systems that discard objects and people. His works question what we value, what we discard, and who gets to decide.
By placing art in public, visible, often overlooked locations, he challenges the boundary between art and daily life.
What Makes Art is Trash (Book) Valuable & Unique
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Documenting ephemeral works: Because many pieces vanish quickly, the book becomes a crucial record.
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Artist’s voice + visual narrative: The combination of essays, manifestos, forewords, and photo-documentation gives both conceptual grounding and visual impact.
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Limited editions / signed versions: The Artevistas gallery’s signed or drawn editions make the book itself a collectible art object. Artevistas gallery+1
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Bridging street and gallery: The book allows works from public, marginal, or fragile spaces to enter the gallery / collector circuit in a mediated way.
Potential Critiques & Questions
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Mediation vs. Authenticity
By converting ephemeral street works into a commodified printed object, do we lose their raw urgency or context? The very gesture of archiving might tame or appropriate the disruptive potential. -
Selective Narrative
The book necessarily selects, frames, and curates — deciding which works to include, how to caption them, how to contextualize them. That framing can skew how the work is understood. -
Longevity & Materiality of the Book
Ironically, the artifact that preserves the transient becomes itself subject to decay — the book might outlive its own message if bound in conventional materials. -
Access & Audience
The book’s reach is more limited than public art; those who never visit the page might not see the works at all, so the tension between public art and private ownership persists.
How to Read or Use Art is Trash (Book) — Suggestions for Engagement
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As a visual journey: Flip through it as one would an art monograph — linger on images, notice the layers, juxtapose similar works.
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Pairing images & text: Use the manifestos, essays, and commentary to interpret ambiguous works; see how the artist frames his own practice.
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Contextual research: Compare works in different cities or seasons; note how context (urban architecture, graffiti, weather) shifts meaning.
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Curatorial thinking: Think of how you might re-exhibit works from the book in a gallery or digital show — how to adapt ephemeral street works to curated space.
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Critical prompts: Use the book to prompt questions about waste, urban ecology, consumer culture, and to compare with other artists of found materials.
Conclusion
Art is Trash is more than just a catalog — it is a reflection on impermanence, a provocation, and a meta-artifact. It captures the gestural, ephemeral energy of Francisco de Pájaro’s street works and suspends them in time, inviting readers to confront what we discard — physically and symbolically.
If you’re interested, you can explore and acquire the edition (signed or with original drawings) via Artevistas Gallery:
https://www.artevistas.eu/product/art-is-trash-book/
