Film – The Grizzled Wizard of Waste Not Want Not
This motion portrait of P.R. Miller is a journey into the mind of an eccentric, outcast scavenger, known around Akron, Ohio as “the junkyard artist.” Hailing from a little place called Mars, he was raised on a scrap yard where they used to burn autos. According to Miller, Mars, PA had one of the highest rates of brain disorders in the country. Miller, himself, was once thought to have been retarded, but it turned out to be ADHD. He later had part of his brain removed due to cancer, not to mention his pituitary, and a length of his colon. He has been inundated with toxicity his whole life, not unlike Mother Earth herself. Miller is convinced that the Earth will one day rid herself of the human vermin that is destroying her. When put on trial, P.R. Miller stood up for his right to make art on his own property. He gave the middle finger to Authority and practically got it bitten off. The whole controversy of the trial was whether his property was filled with “art or junk,” “trash or treasure?” The controversy is put to rest by viewing his studio: a visual odyssey into the realm of junk, art, and the obsessive-compulsive desire to waste naught. All this “visual bubblegum” is a backdrop for Miller to rant and rave about how the American value system is based on the worship of money, and how the culture of consumerism and waste will lead to the final demise of humans.
Rent the documentary online at Vimeo, or purchase for download. (Running time: 57 minutes)