Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Out on the Streets

Well, it appears my time as keeper of Speaker has come to a close.  It's kind of sad.  I'll be a day or two late, but I have a pretty good idea of where I may leave it, and I'm not telling!

More and more it's coming to my attention that there's sort of a movement going.  I have no idea what to call it, but it's all about public art that may be discovered or not, but in the end, if it is discovered, brings joy to the unsuspecting.

For instance, this Little People project was recently brought to my attention.  Someone going by the name of Slinkachu has been putting these tiny pieces in random places around London.  I'm sure most of them are stepped on or otherwise destroyed.  Another large portion likely is never noticed by anyone.  But on the off chance that you did find one of these, I can't imagine the astonishment and amusement that would result from the experience, possibly even greater than it was for me to find that little painting.






Definitely go check out the blog, because the rest of them are pretty amazing, too.

There there's this absolutely brilliant street art by Joshua Allen Harris that looks like ordinary garbage until the subway goes by.


I really do respect what these artists are doing so much.  First of all, it's a completely selfless act of creating art that, by the very nature of its being public, precludes the possibility of it becoming commercialized.  Secondly, because at its heart, as I said before, it brings joy into the lives of ordinary people, who may never set foot in an art gallery, in unexpected and unpredictable ways.  It's one of the noblest achievements for a work of art, as far as I'm concerned, to make our world a more delightful place to live.

©2008, Ryan Witte

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