Functional, useful, reliable — the rubber tire also serves as artful inspiration.

They get me every time. I do my share of junkyard exploring, and inevitably, I stumble upon a pile of discarded tires. While arguably the most dependable load-supporting, system of transportation, I see them as perfect sculptures emerging from found objects. They are appealing as a group — or as individuals. And I’m not the only one with a soft spot for these under-valued heroes.

Robert Rauschenberg’s clever combine called “Monogram” (Pic #2)  might be the most famous from the school of trashed tires — curiously collaring a painted, horned, Angora goat.

A lesser known but equally trailblazing sculptor named Noah Purify incorporated tires in many of his assemblages in the brutal desert heat of Joshua Tree. (Pic #3) His orders (after his death) were to leave his work to disintegrate in the dry desert air. It’s been decades. Miraculously, his installations still stand.