Gramacho Landfill In Waste Land, By Vik Muniz

In Brazil lays one of the largest waste dumps in the world, supporting over 9,000 tons of garbage a day (Ortiz). The Jardim Gramacho landfill poses many hazards to the environment and to the people who have worked there their whole lives. Tiao, an impoverished catadore, or picker of garbage, and president of the Association of Pickers of Jardim Gramacho declares, “’We are not pickers of garbage; we are pickers of recyclable materials’” (Holden, C4). Tiao was one of the main characters in the late film titled Waste Land where artist Vik Muniz went above and beyond to create a masterpiece of art. Muniz did not intend to go to Brazil and change the lives of the catadores while creating his artwork, he intended to let them reimagine what their life could be like and teach them lessons along the way. Waste Land is a film created to portray artist Vik
He has completely changed the life of one picker in particular: Tiao dos Santos, the president of Jardim Gramacho landfill as mentioned above. Tiao is photographed in an abandoned bathtub to mimic the late painting, “The Death of Marat” from 1793. Tiao’s photograph is then sold in London for over 50,000 US dollars. He plans to use that money to give back to the catadores and to the environment as much as he can (Holden C4). The transformation Tiao undergoes during the film is enlightening, because he is discouraged and ready to give up at the beginning (Walker), but by the end, after he sees what ambition could give, he is ready to take on a whole new life. In essence, the film’s overall message is how trash is recycled and how it is given a new life over and over again until it finally gets buried in a landfill. Muniz is recycling the lives of the catadores, selling their portraits of garbage and giving the money back to the catadores so they can better their