'Trench art' is a term used to describe objects made from the debris and by-products of modern warfare. Trench Art is usually associated with the First World War, although similar items have been produced in other conflicts too. Most trench art was made by servicemen to pass the time when not in the front line.
Trench art objects are holders of soldiers' memories and reminders of the conflict they faced. Made out of recycled war refuse such as shell casings, spent bullets or whatever came to hand, they open a window to the past. They tell us things like where soldiers went and what their surroundings were like.

Some trench art was actually made in the trenches. Other examples were made by soldiers convalescing in hospitals, or shortly after the war before they went home. The pieces were made as personal souvenirs, for family, or sold to other soldiers to earn money.



Revolutionary War prisoners built ship models out of meat bones; Civil War soldiers carved talismans from lead bullets. By World War I, brass gun cartridges were being recycled into durable trinkets, and World War II brought about materials like Plexiglass and aluminum, mostly used in airplanes. Thanks to these technological advances, objects cobbled together out of necessity or ennui were more inclined to last.

Infantrymen engaged in fighting were the least likely combatants to make or keep trench art; as Czekanski points out, they were too busy “staying alive.” As for sailors on ships, soldiers at camps, and prisoners of war, idle hands and plentiful materials likely triggered the itch to create. But, as Czekanski says, “there’s probably something there in the notion that in the midst of destroying the world, they wanted to make something—even if it was just an ashtray.”