#CelebrateTheOrdinary – A Movement.

I first saw the massive cloud you see above, formed with wafer-y, disposable cups. at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. This is American Artist Tara Donovan's creation, with Styrofoam cups.

Since then, this is what I've learned about Tara's work:

Tara uses all kinds of manufactured, everyday, household items. Like plastic cups, pencils, plastic drinking straws and more. She creates visually complex and appealing structures from the most basic, often ignored, materials. She doesn't start with a design, but rather, lets the material she chooses dictate the form. She develops a dialogue with these everyday materials and lets an organic shape come to life.

Tara isn't the only famous artist who celebrates ordinary, manufactured material.

Artist Subodh Gupta's Work with Steel Utensils, Seen here at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

Artist Subodh Gupta sculpts form with store-bought steel utensils. His work is monumental, dramatic and globally appreciated. And yet his materials are the most basic steel utensils that can be found in even the poorest of households in India– An ordinary material, with an extraordinary impact.

In the world of Architecture, the most ordinary of materials to make a splash are paper and its cousin cardboard.

For years, Japanese Architect, Shigeru Ban has crafted pavilions, temporary housing, bridges and even a church in New Zealand with paper as his chief construction material. His work exploits the strength and durability, and cost effectiveness of an unlikely material–cardboard tubes. Scroll to the bottom to see one of his most exquisite works with cardbaord.

Elsewhere, designers Joost Van Bleiswijk and Alrik Koudernburg have shaped the interiors of an office in Amsterdam entirely from Cardboard. Dutch advertising agency Nothing wanted office interiors on a tight budget. The result is rooms, furniture, walls, space-dividers and accessories–all created entirely with cardboard. See images of the office of Dutch firm Nothing below.

Inspired? Tell us your story, show us work with ordinary materials and join our visual movement on Instagram and here on this site. Simply tag us @materialdriven, and hashtag your image with #CelebrateTheOrindary ( Case sensitive). Let's talk about the extraordinary design that can come from ordinary materials!