Sep 2009
Creative cleaning in the urbane jungle
18/09/0920:09 Categories: Creativity
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Clean streets, free from litter. We love that idea, largely because it has something to communicate about our civilised nature and the way we prioritise our surroundings in the same way as we do our homes. Just as our homes reflect different characteristics from controlling through to dangerously ignorant, our use and prioritisation of public space is similarly diverse, often seeing rubbish and vandalism rule over a seemingly impossible minimalist space which is the dream of architects. We do live in a dirty world. However there is probably something in all of us that are creative that take pleasure in seeing graffiti, so long as it is crafted, well done.
Though it’s a relatively small gesture the project by the British street artist, Paul Curtis who is known as ‘Moose’ is a really interesting one: Moose specialises in ‘reverse graffiti’, yes that’s it, reverse graffiti. Taking an area such as the Broadway Tunnel in San Francisco – the walls of which are caked in dirt from 20,000 vehicles which currently pass through it each day – the layers of grime are cleaned back to expose the light coloured concrete surface.
Check out Paul’s website, Reverse Graffiti. What a fantastic, creative way of inventing a new medium out of dirt. All the better that the work has been sponsored by Green Works, manufacturers of a plant-based cleaner. A what a cool bit of marketing on their part, cleaning up a dirty world...
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