What do you do with used refills of your pen? You throw them away, right? What if I tell you that you can actually use it to create some very beautiful art pieces? Meet Bengaluru based artist Sreenivasulu M R who uses the refills to create miniature models of famous landmarks.
In the last 18 years; he has spent over 11000 hours on developing this art form. He has reused over 10000 pen refills to make 12 miniature models. These models include – Eiffel Tower, Charminar, Big-Ben Clock, Taj Mahal, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Gateway of India, Seattle Space Needle, Sydney Harbour Bridge, St Philomena Church, Amritsar Golden Temple, Jaipur Hawa Mahal and Stone Chariot Hampi Restoration.
Each monument takes anywhere between 6 months to 3 years for construction based on architecture complexity. The making includes planning the ground work, grouping clean pen refills based on design to construct, polishing unclean refills into fine wire for intricate carvings and use glue to stick each piece. So far the artist has explored Mughal, Rajput, Vijayanagara architecture styles and learning Kalinga architecture as part of upcoming 13th miniature.
This art form is also one very prominent effort to teach the importance of recycling. Children develop habits at a young age, so it’s important to make sure recycling is one of them. Every time a student keeps aside an empty refill for recycling, he is learning to take steps towards saving the planet.
Sreenivasulu M R is also an artist(paintings), Indian Classical Dancer(Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Yakshagana), Sculptor(Chalks and Sand), Environmentalist, World Record Holder and Computer Science Engineer. His art has been part of many prestigious exhibitions in India and abroad.
His efforts have been included in multiple record books, including India Book of Records, RHR Republic (UK) World Record, GRRF Global Record and GRRF Asia Pacific Icon, URF Global Award, Unique World Record, International Book of Records, Elite World Records, Harvard World Records. He has also received many awards including Humanitarian Excellence Award by I Can Foundation, Jaipur; National Pride Award by National Anti-Harassment Foundation & Ek Sakha Foundation, Bhopal; National Youth Icon Award 2019 by International Youth Committee; Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Seva Puraskar by World Human Rights Association; Ambassador for India at World Youth International MUN – London, 2019-20; Awarded as ‘Talent of the Team’ by HANMUN 2019-20 for voluntary contributions; Featured in the book ‘Transforming Plastic: From pollution to evolution’ written by Albert Bates; Shwapno Youth Leadership Award 2020, Bangladesh; Featured in Google Books, Art and Culture Project; I2OR National Eminent Researcher Award 2020; India Top100 Researchers Award 2022; UN Karmaveer Chakra Bronze Award 2023.
Readers can reach him over Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn. One can also contribute pen refills for future miniatures. On an average 100 students from 7th grade can discard 500 pen refills per year. Imagine the number of pen refills that are being discarded from each school and city. Since pen refills are one of the ignored forms of plastic I target school and college going student to educate them on plastic waste and make miniatures.