christophe guinet, better known as monsieur plant, presents a fun and unusual way to recycle a pair of sneakers. conveyed throughout his prior botanical projects, guinet’s latest series ‘sneakerium’ continues to speak on the theme regarding the cycle of life. by placing the shoes in an ‘aquarium’ filled with water, plants and soil, a new life as a plant host is given to a pair of sneakers after being thrown out.

'sneakerium' offers an afterlife for worn out NIKE sneakers
all images courtesy of monsieur plant

 

 

the collection consists of five different NIKE sneaker models, each carefully set in a fish tank with different coral settings. ‘it took a great deal of time to stabilize the aquatic environment, which is why we must attach great importance to the recovery of our waste.’ emphasizes monsieur plant. each tank also follows unique artistic directions, such as the matching of the laces of the sneakers with the background color and choice of plants.

'sneakerium' offers an afterlife for worn out NIKE sneakers

 

 

in 2016, monsieur plant had previously completed a similar project ‘plant your mac’ involving vintage commercial products from apple, such as an imac and macintosh classic. in this project, he decided to empty out all the hardware and replace it with living plants to give the non-functioning computers a new life as plastic pots.

'sneakerium' offers an afterlife for worn out NIKE sneakers

'sneakerium' offers an afterlife for worn out NIKE sneakers

'sneakerium' offers an afterlife for worn out NIKE sneakers

'sneakerium' offers an afterlife for worn out NIKE sneakers

'sneakerium' offers an afterlife for worn out NIKE sneakers

'sneakerium' offers an afterlife for worn out NIKE sneakers

'sneakerium' offers an afterlife for worn out NIKE sneakers

 

 

project info:

 

project name: sneakerium

artist: christophe guinet