Once through reading this newspaper, you will likely discard it in much of the same manner that most of us would -- leaving it on a desk, bench or at best tossing it into a recycle bin -- never thinking twice about its fate.

But for renowned sculptor Steven Siegel, who has turned recycled newspapers and even plastic bottles and rubber hoses into works of art, another person's trash has truly become his treasure.

Siegel will share his process, work and artistic motivations as part of a guest lecture at 4 p.m. today in the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art auditorium.

The New York-based artist, who received his master of fine arts from the Pratt Institute, has been praised within the art world for his unconventional aesthetic.

His most identifiable works -- large, layered pieces formed by intricate stacks of newspapers and placed within the public environment -- have gained considerable acclaim, featured in magazines like "Sculpture" and "Dutchess."

Siegel, who began the process of layered site work more than 16 years ago, said it came as a "total shot in the dark."

"I was in Staten Island (New York) and I started thinking about the site, about how it was the home of the largest landfill," he said. "I've always been interested in the relationship between nature and culture, so I played around with the idea of post-consumer materials. I had no idea how it was going to turn out."

After first experimenting with newspapers, Siegel moved on to other objects, creating large accumulated structures of plastic bottles, rubber hoses, wire and other dispensable goods.

The result of his process is a series of massive organic-like sculptures that still stand within their natural surroundings 15 to 16 years after formation.

In Saratoga, Calif., a nest-like sculpture of decayed newspapers forms a wedge within five trees. Nine thousand pounds of aluminum auto body parts wind around in worm-like formation in the halls of a gallery in Germany.

And in a forest in Denmark, a platform of newspapers, earth and grass has smoothed over to resemble a rock cropping.

For Siegel, setting is part of his pieces' impact.

"I prefer the idea of someone coming across these pieces unexpectedly. It's very different from when you put something in a gallery context," he said. "For me, if there's not a strong visual response to what's there, and if it's not visually compelling on its own, then the piece has failed.

"I want the pieces to pop out and be powerful and magnetic -- sensory as opposed to intellectual."

Jonathan Hils, assistant professor of sculpture, said Siegel's perspective of art and his departure from "the notions of the traditional gallery artist who works with stone, bronze and welded metals" is what made him the choice of VASA officers for guest artist.

"I expect that his lecture presentation will demonstrate a unique contemporary approach to what art means and how it functions in today's world," Hils said.

Siegel's latest artistic direction has transitioned from geology to biology. His new series of sculptures, entitled "Wonderful Life," features 52 total projected pieces that resemble cells and molecules.

The lecture is free and open to the public.
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