Lixo Extraordinário 2 Favorite 

Over the course of 3 years, from 2006 until 2009, the production team behind the film Wasteland (2010), also known as "Lixo Extraordinário" followed Brazilian, Brooklyn-based mixed-media artist, Vik Muniz, as he traveled back to Brazil to create self portraits with the catadores (tr. garbage pickers) of Jardim Gramacho, one of the largest city dumps in the Americas. Together, Vik Muniz and the members of the union of catadores created large scale self portraits of the catadores, made of garbage and recycled materials from the dump, raising visibility for the union while giving visibility to the amount of waste produced on contemporary society and thus the importance of recycling, sustainability and personal waste management. The pieces were later auctioned off the portraits at an auction in Sotheby's in 2009, where the proceeds ameliorated the lives of those involved and supported the union. The artistic activism as was portrayed in the documentary displayed the power of creating a participatory art project that not only brings visibility but can be sold in support of the cause illuminated through the galvanizing nature of the work.