
        
      
      Used  paper coffee cups usually end up in rubbish bins. Inspired by World Environment  Day, Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) Artworks Mentor of the Year 2009,  Yvette Nowell, from RMB, partnered with visual artists Hannelie  Coetzee and Usha Seejarim of Such  Initiative last year to create a ‘swarm of bees’– from 400  recycled, disposable paper cups in the atrium outside the Daily Buzz coffee  shop at 3 Merchant Place, Sandton.
      The eco-conscious  temporary artwork was inspired by World Environment Day and spoke to four  elements pertinent to RMB’s sustainability and environmental risk reporting:  Water, Waste, Travel and Energy. 
        
      The swarm artwork played on  the role of the collective, particularly in the corporate environment, where  working together – individually, but not in isolation – is  crucial. 
The swarm installation was constructed in just  four days, but only lasted a week, when a capricious Johannesburg winter storm  gave it a battering and brought it to the ground. Although the artwork was  always going to be temporary – Mother Nature  somehow had the final say, forcing the 'swarm of bees' to be recycled again.   
    
 
    
    
    
    
	
	
	  
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	    | The swarm installation reflected in the windows of 3 Merchant Place |