On Sunday, January 10th, 2010 over 5,000 people took off their pants on subways in 44 cities around the world. In New York, the 9th Annual No Pants! Subway Ride had over 3,000 participants, spread out over six meeting points and ten subway lines.
Every so often the MTA runs vintage “Nostalgia Trains” in the New York subway for special occasions. Last month the Levy Family organized a old-timey tea party on one of those trains, effectively completing the “turn back the clock” atmosphere.
Toronto artist Posterchild recently took a break from installing art in NYC phone booths to propose to his girlfriend. He popped the the question by appropriating a sign reserved for ad space above a Manhattan subway stop. Posterchild writes:
She thought she was just helping me out with another street art project; I kept this covered until after it was installed and after the unveiling I was expecting some kind of reaction- but it took a little while to convince her that this was a proposal for real, and not just some art project!
A brand new Improv Everywhere mission hit the interwebz today:
For our latest mission, we installed a photography studio on a random subway car. We claimed that the MTA had hired us to take photos of every single person who rides the subway and that we’d be producing a yearbook at the end of the year. Most people were happy to pose for us, and the resulting photos show just how diverse New York subway riders can be.
Free Bouncy Rides is a new project from the group Club Animals has been staging in subway cars and platforms. In the description for the project the group simply states, “This is a free public service.”
Elsewhere on their site they add:
Club Animals (Est. 2008) is a regression from adulthood. Obama said that now is the time to put off childish things, but we could not disagree more. In these times of job loss, government bailouts, and even a potential Depression, Club Animals has turned from adult concerns of money and finances and concentrated our minds on to those of children. Can you think back to a time when you didn’t care how much money you had in your pocket? Can you remember a time when you just wanted to play? Club Animals has embraced childhood, and the time when what was valued most was fun, horseplay, and experimentation without worrying about “reality.”
d.billy added tags reading “past,” “present,” and “future” to three payphones in the Times Square subway station. So if you’ve ever wanted to give the past of the future a ring, now’s your chance.
50 Improv Everywhere agents created an art gallery opening on the 23rd Street subway platform in Manhattan. They put up 30 placards next to objects in the space (pipes, electrical boxes, signs, advertisements), transforming them into works of art. The gallery included a bar, a coat rack, and a cellist.
The mission took place this past fall, but this morning a couple of Improv Everywhere agents put up fresh copies of the placards in the station (uptown platform for the C/E at 23rd Street). If you live in New York, go check it out before the MTA removes them.
Adam Sacks took it upon himself to figure out how many anagrams he could make out of the “WET PAINT” signs in the NYC subway system. Above are two of our favorites. Check out more on his site.
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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