Hasta La Ideas

Mark Langan is a self-taught artist who works in a very particular medium – corrugated cardboard

After being made redundant from a job in the transportation industry in 2004, Ohio-based Langan decided to give art a go. He schlepped unsuccesfully around local art fairs trying to sell whatever he could but realised that unless he could find something unique to do, he was wasting his time.

Then, one day, inspiration struck. “I ripped apart a large box, happened to notice the wavy fluted medium inside and thought I could use this unique material by taking it out of its intended purpose as a package and turning it into a visual art form,” he says. “Neighbours of mine had just moved into a new home and I asked them if they wouldn’t mind saving me their boxes once they had emptied them from the move. I picked up this huge stack, brought them home and started experimenting with them. I created my first abstract artwork titled Max and Lori’s Move and was so pleased with the results I’ve been hooked ever since.”

Langan has found a particular niche recreating company logos in works to hang in their offices.

Each piece takes between 80 and 100 hours and uses entirely recycled materials, although some clients, such as Kellogg, have asked him to work with their own packaging materials.

For each project, Langan will blow up the logo in question using a projector. He then uses a drawing table and T-square to plan out the piece.

Langan at work. You can see more here