Michelle Obama's Pick: Magpie Collective

By Lexi Green
September 1, 2010

Top left: Scott Hart, top right: Sean Daniel; bottom left: Shane Petzer, bottom right: Richard Panaino

What would the first ladies of yesteryear say if they knew Michelle Obama has decorated the White House with trash? Considering the "trash" is actually two repurposed whimsical and vibrant chandeliers, beautiful and quirky enough to be selected and sold by Anthropologie, we’re thinking the former queens of the White House, whether design hounds or conservationists, would approve. Placed in the first daughters’ rooms, these colorful and carefully edited amalgamations of found objects, pieces of recycled plastic and everyday junk had their humble beginnings across the Atlantic. Magpie, a small socially conscious art collective in bucolic Barrydale, South Africa, created the Obama chandelier, and many others like it, out of recycled materials, much of which is brought in by Barrydale locals. On our side of the globe, Magpie has made quite a rumble with their inspirational handcrafted home goods and art. We recently caught up with Shane A. Petzer of Magpie and a social entrepreneur, to talk about the inspiration behind the art collective and their work.

Petzer and his partner Scott Hart founded Magpie in 1998, when Petzer was a community worker focusing specifically in HIV and Hart was a clothing designer by trade. It all began with a few lighting projects on their kitchen table in the trendy neighborhood of Observatory, Cape Town. They named their endeavor after the Magpie bird, a notorious collector of discarded items for nesting. It wasn't long before people started taking notice of their work. Less than a decade in, they moved Magpie to rural Barrydale, into a much larger industrial space, where they build their creations with fellow artist Sean Daniel and administrator Richard Panaino. The local community has rallied around the Magpie group as well, not only because they have created a better recycling initiative in the area, but because they have involved community members in events and special projects, such as an annual Christmas installation where they create a Christmas tree 18 feet tall out of recycled goods gathered by local school children. “We are more than a commercial enterprise,” Petzer tells us, “and that is what is really exciting about what we do. We go beyond producing beautiful objects for the mere sake of producing beautiful objects and try to better our planet and the community.”

Clockwise from top left: 3 chandeliers hanging in Magpie Gallery; Chickens at Africa Cafe - Cape Town - Heritage Square; Blue Chigubu Ball Light - Magpie Studio gardens - ball light made of blue water bottles (approx 1m in diameter) (A "Chigubu" means a water vessel in Shona, a Zimbabwean indigenous language); Composition of three flower ball lights at the Magpie Gallery; Rooidoppies Soccer Ball - red lid soccer ball light; White Chicken Bum Chandelier - stripped milk bottles and PET plastic composition; Annual Christmas Tree; Passion Flower Lights - Africa Cafe' Cape Town

Magpie pieces are sold around the world to a variety of clients, from locals in South Africa, to boutique hotels across Europe, to tourists just passing through. Their best sellers are their regency chandelier and a smaller light fixture, called ampoule couture. They even have a bespoke service, through which clients can commission their very own Magpie masterpiece. Whether it is a discarded toy, or yesterday’s milk bottle, each item that goes into a Magpie piece is special. And to Petzer, that is the most important part—from both a creative and social standpoint. “I think lots of people have different relationships with their trash," he says. "We have just been creating too much rubbish and not using it properly. People love our stuff because we are not pretending to recycle. We are genuinely taking trash and creating beautiful products. People stare at our pieces for ages because they can’t believe all of the parts come together to be so aesthetically beautiful. Something goes off in their heads, like, ‘This is really beautiful, but it is also made of junk!’ And I hope we inspire them to think about repurposing things in a different way.”

And as far as having Magpie Chandeliers in the White House? Petzer’s response is accompanied by a hearty laugh: “Wow. Just wow!” And apparently, the local community was even more excited for them. “There was one lady who was quite tearful, quite emotional," Petzer recalls. "She said that she could imagine that one of her little pieces of trash that she put into the recycling bin could have ended up in the Obamas' chandeliers. It was heartwarming.” Obviously, outside of the White House, there is always room to repurpose.

** Images provided by Magpie. **

Petzer and his team picked a few items from eBay to show us how:

Roll over items for details

NEW Mother of Pearl Button

(starting bid, $9.99)

Antique Style Blue Cameo Ring

(winning bid, $.99)

Glass Crystal Spacers

(buy it now price, $4.99)

Fresh Water Pearl Pin

(starting bid, $8.99)

Mouse Cowboy Hunter Phone Charm

(starting bid, $0.99)

Vintage Clear Rhinestone Brooch

(starting bid, $7.74)

Vintage Enamel Mouse Pin

(starting bid, $4.99)

Angel Playing The Trumpet Jesso

(starting bid, $0.99)

Lebanon Jupiters Temple Shield Charm

(buy it now price, $24.95)

NEW Peace Sign Charm Necklace

(winning bid, $7.10)

Michelle Obama's Pick: Magpie Collective

"The selection of items on eBay reflect the diversity of what little items, charms and trinkets may find their way onto a Magpie piece. They are similar to the 'bits and bobs' we source here through our recycling efforts and store in our studio," says Petzer. "Sometimes customers and friends have given us old cake tins and boxes of old beads, trinkets and little objects that most people throw away. Our artists often incorporate pieces of broken glass, plastic, plastic bottle lids and cut-offs into our work. I often chuckle at the sight of a Magpie Chandelier. Seeing seemingly worthless items like cheap, recycled plastic, woven together intricately to make the most amazing visual creation. It is a sight to behold."

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