In New York, an art and music enthusiast is making trash into treasure—instruments, to be precise.
In Ken Butler’s apartment is a guitar made out of a suitcase. You can play it, and you can open it up.
There’s also cello made from an old crutch.
Butler has a wall full of these recycled instruments.
“Most of the time, people say, ‘Hey Ken, I have an old violin, you can have it.’ And so I don’t buy things new,” he said.
Other than donations, Butler finds his materials from the most plentiful source: the New York streets.
“It’s mostly when I’m walking down the street, I see something and I go, ‘Oh, that could work,’” he said.
Butler takes his finds back to this workshop, where he has made over 400 instruments.
“Some of them play, some of them don’t play—they’re not meant to be performed on. But I perform on them and I put them on the wall as sculptures. So it’s a combination of art and music,” he said.
Butler learned to play the viola when he was younger, and studied art as an adult.
This background gave him the ability to take on this unique career. He’s sold quite of few of his creations over the years.
Today, Butler is more focused on guitar performances, and he’s making fewer of these instruments.
“I don’t really have too much room here anymore,” he said, gesturing to room.
But Butler said he’ll always continue the craft. He enjoys giving a new life to these old items.
