One of the things I've struggled with recently is the question of the materials I'm using in my art. About a year ago I took an art course at a community college (zero credit hours) which I ended up dropping out of because it was more of a community studio than an actual class, and two things bothered me: There was no new information being given, this was just a space to work on our own in community, and the "professor" professed that since most art eventually ended up in the trash (especially after the lifetime of the artist) that it was unnecessary to worry about things like using acid free products to protect materials from yellowing, or to seal everything to protect from water and UV.
I have always labored under the belief that if you are producing something, it should be quality, and quality means some degree of permanence. I do applaud some thinking outside the box for art shows and temporary installations, art that is a short term experience and does not expand beyond some limited time frame. I'm OK with duct taping a banana to the wall, or nailing bologna to posts in a field. I'm OK with sand sculptures (but not stone stacking, because of the environmental impact!) but if I'm using papers or paints or adhesives, I don't want to have something that's going to peel, flake, chip, or discolor after a few years hanging on the wall.
That said, I also believe art should be recyclable in one way or another. Most of what I make is purely experimental. There are a lot of failures which are then cut up and used in other projects, painted over, or sometimes divided into smaller pieces. There are also good pieces, pieces I really loved and were well received, but I just didn't have room for or canvases to do something else I wanted to do, and out came the gesso and they were gone. I think the clearest example for me of this is that my daughter is now in possession of a canvas that had two previous paintings on it, both of which had, in their turn, been accepted and shown at a juried art show in Santa Fe, NM but did not sell.
Right now I feel the need to produce more work. I have ideas for both peaceful, relaxing images (which I think we all really need right now), and some pieces that reflect the alarm and outrage of our current political and social situation in this country (which I also think we all really need right now). I've got a small canvas out that I'll be recycling for the "peaceful images"... a third generation multi-media piece of the "Fabulous Whale" painting I did a few years back (which was one of those canvases that didn't work as a whole but was cut up into three different pieces and was lovely), which has been hanging on my wall for over a year now, but needs to evolve.
I'd been torn between putting that canvas in the charity bin or the garbage bin for about a month now, when I realized how much I liked certain elements of the piece, which had prevented me from discarding it up until now. There are a couple pieces I've recently revamped, and I'm also going to work on a portrait of my eldest daughter again, after severely overpainting the last one. I have three different ideas on technique right now, and I want to play with all three in portraits before committing, and eventually doing one for each of my kids.
Some of those experiments in technique will end up being painted over, cut up, or used as a foundation for other projects. The ones that remain will be properly sealed to protect them, because while not ALL art is permanent, I treat my art as if it will be loved forever.
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