Assemblage Art as a Form of Sustainability in Contemporary Libyan Art: An Analytical Study of Selected Works

Abstract

This study examines assemblage art as a form of sustainability in contemporary Libyan art, addressing the limited scholarship on the relationship between assemblage practices and sustainability within the Libyan context. It aims to identify manifestations of sustainability in selected artworks, analyze approaches to repurposing materials, and highlight their role in shaping aesthetic and expressive values. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach, drawing on relevant literature on sustainability and assemblage art and analyzing selected works by six Libyan artists using Edmund Feldman’s model of art criticism, encompassing description, formal analysis, interpretation, and aesthetic judgment. The analysis focuses on the nature of the materials, the techniques used to shape them, their visual relationships, and their conceptual significance. The findings reveal a diversity of materials, including war remnants, metals, everyday objects, recycled paper, and natural materials, alongside variations in their use according to the artists’ disciplines and perspectives. They also demonstrate that material repurposing extends beyond physical reuse to confer new meanings that engage with human, social, and environmental issues while preserving the artworks’ aesthetic and expressive values. The study concludes that assemblage art represents a creative practice capable of supporting a culture of sustainability in contemporary Libyan art by revaluing used and readily available materials and transforming them into active elements of meaning-making and artistic expression.