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Nature ↔ Human

Carolyn Law

Factoria Recycling & Transfer Station

A poem set in glass invites visitors to reconnect with nature and consider how objects change as they are recycled or returned to the earth.

Carolyn Law, Margi Berger (1916-2020), and Lynn Robb. Nature ↔ Human, 2017. Etched glass. Factoria Recycling & Transfer Station, Bellevue, WA. King County Public Art Collection. Photo: @wiseknave

Frogs, night, children, puddles. These words are etched in the glass entry of the Factoria Recycling & Transfer Station’s Administration building, just a few of many in a poem titled Nature ↔ Human. The language of the poem, its phrases scattered across the window panes, reflects many cycles taking place at the station, where objects once formed by the hands and machines of people go to transform or return to the earth.

Written by Margi Berger and envisioned for the transfer station by Carolyn Law with Lynn Robb, the poem resonates against the wooded area surrounding the building, like an invitation not only to recycle, but also to reconnect with nature. Its words form shadows that travel through the lobby with the sun.
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Carolyn Law, Margi Berger (1916-2020), and Lynn Robb. Nature ↔ Human, 2017. Etched glass. Factoria Recycling & Transfer Station, Bellevue, WA. King County Public Art Collection. Photo: @wiseknave
Carolyn Law, Margi Berger (1916-2020), and Lynn Robb. Nature ↔ Human, 2017. Etched glass. Factoria Recycling & Transfer Station, Bellevue, WA. King County Public Art Collection. Photo: @wiseknave
Carolyn Law, Margi Berger (1916-2020), and Lynn Robb. Nature ↔ Human, 2017. Etched glass. Factoria Recycling & Transfer Station, Bellevue, WA. King County Public Art Collection. Photo: @wiseknave

About the Location

Factoria Recycling & Transfer Station

The original Factoria Transfer Station was built in the mid-1960s, but in 2017 a new LEED-Gold building replaced it, providing a larger, modern facility designed to meet the needs of our growing region well into the future. The 80,000 square-foot station surpasses national sustainability standards. Compared with the old building, it saves 1.3 million gallons…

Read more about the art and artists at Factoria Recycling & Transfer Station. More >

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