The new millennium has brought to the forefront a new generation of artists who use low-cost, low-tech media and often original techniques to produce work that defies categorization and pushes the boundaries of art itself. Some repurpose utilitarian or scrap materials such as flip-flops, broken bottles and skateboards. Others use established media such as paper, stone, concrete and steel, or are drawn to traditional craft techniques to make art that is tangible, tactile and highly skilled.

The ingeniously crafted and thought-provoking results showcased in this book range across a broad spectrum, from intimate paper collages to large public sculptures constructed from discarded wood.

Some of the artists have invented new techniques, while others have broken new ground in the presentation of their work, creating fresh, dynamic forms of display. Despite the diversity of the artists' methods and ideologies, their work shares an underlying current: it uses resources that would otherwise be wasted, reflecting contemporary concerns about the environment. Through their imaginative approaches to medium, method and technique, these artists are producing work that is ingenious, inquiring and conscious of its relationship to the natural world, and in the process redefining the materials of art for the 21st century.