Artist Michael Rakowitz came up with a clever way to camp out on an urban street, make your tent look like it’s a covered car!
He writes:
(P)LOT questions the occupation and dedication of public space and encourages reconsiderations of “legitimate” participation in city life. Contrary to the common procedure of using municipal parking spaces as storage surfaces for vehicles, (P)LOT proposes the rental of these parcels of land for alternative purposes. The acquisition of municipal permits and simple payment of parking meters could enable citizens to, for example, establish temporary encampments or use the leased ground for different kinds of activities, such as temporary gardens, outdoor dining, game playing, etc. A first initiative for this re-dedication is realized through the conversion of ordinary car covers to portable tents for use as living units or leisure spaces. Ranging from a common sedan to a luxurious Porsche or Lexus, the tents enable a broadcast of desire within the marginalized space of need.
Montreal group Les Fourmis came up with a clever use for campaign signs after the recent Canadian election– turn them into birdhouses and put them up around the city. I wonder how many millions of campaign signs there are in the US right now heading to a landfill?
A guy sees a random person’s name written about negatively in graffiti and tracks her down on Facebook to deliver the bad news. It’s a pretty hilarious exchange that’s worth the short read.
Street With a View is a project by Robin Hewlett and Ben Kinsley where they staged elaborately awesome scenes for the Google Street View cameras. The tiny one-way street Sampsonia Way was transformed into a place alive with energy, complete with marathon, marching band, and a 17th century sword fight. The results were captured by the Street View team (who worked with the artists to coordinate the shoot.) Explore the street for yourself:
ExFilms, a group of filmmakers in San Diego, sent us their awesome new prank:
Little Timmy is our four foot tall dummy all dressed up in his halloween costume holding a bag of candy. Armed with a couple of hidden cameras and a wireless microphone we set off to pull pranks in the neighborhood with our fake kid trick or treating.
Imbue recently set up his controversial “Drug Vend” sculpture on Brighton Pier in the UK. Cocaine and Heroin for pocket change? What a deal! Don’t forget you can buy ideas from vending machines as well.
There will be a steady stream of creativity on 14th Street in New York City for the entire month of October as Art in Odd Places presents Pedestrian:
In October 2008, the fourth annual AiOP will present Pedestrian on 14th Street, Manhattan - the great divider between uptown/downtown and highbrow/lowbrow. From the East River to the Hudson River, artists of all mediums will encourage the masses of daily pedestrians to rediscover this corridor of diverse commerce, including Union Square, historical site of social and political activism. Projects will explore connections between public spaces, pedestrian traffic, and ephemeral transient disruptions. Like a scavenger hunt, New Yorkers will use a map to discover art in unexpected places along this amazing street.
Check out the AiOP website for photos and descriptions of all the projects planned, including Yvette Helin’s “Pedestrian Project” pictured above.
To mark the 10th anniversary of CCTV cameras in UK, we sent an 8 foot alien onto the streets to fool the CCTV camera controller to send 3 police cars to respond to the scene in Bournemouth, UK.
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Urban Prankster covers pranks, hacks, participatory art, flash mobs, and other creative endeavors that take place in public places in cities across the world. It is edited by Charlie Todd.
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