I love this kind of public art! There was a tree in town that got a sweater a couple of years ago, and I’m so excited to see this is now becoming a “movement.”
“Captain Hook” is part of an international movement of so-called yarn bombers taking an old-school approach to street art. Unlike most street artists who travel with spray paint or markers, Captain Hook — as she asked NPR to call her — works with a crochet hook and yarn.
Her “walls” are public fixtures, like the bronze bear statue in L.A.’s Griffith Park that stands zombie-like with its paws out. “This is crochet on a statue,” she says, sitting in her Los Angeles apartment, a pile of granny squares in her lap. “This could be happening in 1725.”
Flash mob pillow fight in Switzerland (neutral, yeah right!). Image via Wikipedia
Thanks again to the Seattle PI for bringing us great stories of spreading joy and happiness (see posts from earlier this week)!
If you were out and about in Seattle Sunday, you might have encountered more dancing and music than expected.
You can thank the TV show “Glee” and Seattle’s propensity for flash-mob participation for that.
“Glee” flash mobs broke out in several spots around the city Sunday afternoon. Here’s video of one of the best performances I’ve seen out of a bunch posted on YouTube.
This is such an awesome trend of seeing flash mobs of people performing public dancing and performance, from Michael Jackson’s Thriller to Glee to improv and beyond.
Just in time to get into the Valentine’s Day mood: enriching signs that spread joy and cheer to everyone, not just your favorite sweety!
Colorful “Signs of Affection” from graphic designer Paul Price. Wandering by one of these on a cold afternoon sure would be a cheerful surprise. I’m hoping Paul’s work somehow makes it over to the gray Brooklyn streets in my area, so I can stumble upon “Your Hair Looks Dashing.” That would totally make any bad day feel like it was taking a turn for the better. Click below to check out more of Paul’s work online.
PARK(ing) Day is an annual, worldwide event that inspires city dwellers everywhere to transform metered parking spots into temporary parks for the public good.
It’s happening already in Australia, Japan, Korea, and for the first time ever, in China! Rebar is up bright and early for the first major PARK(ing) Day installation in Paris. And hundreds of you are preparing to please the public with your own PARKs across Europe, America and beyond.
Seattle held their event outside the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) downtown. One of the representatives from the Public Land Trust told me how the rotten economy has led people to hold more events outside in public places, from business picnics to yoga classes, raising awareness of all the public space Seattle has to offer and why it’s important to maintain these and add more. Hopefully people won’t forget that once the weather turns bad, or the economy turns good.
Here are some of the pictures I took at the Seattle event:
PARKing Day outside the SAM, Seattle WAan arts+crafts table and lounge area were set up for visitors to PARKing DayThe Trust for Public Land set up a map for people to mark parks that they liked, could use a little love, or places they wanted parks.Bear feet drawn by a little girl visiting the eventRusty Oliver, artist behind the Hazard Factory, devoted his PARKing space to this portable mini-golf obstacle he built.
Hopefully the weather next year will be nicer and bring out more participants.
*If I missed any organizers, please leave their names in the comments and I’ll update this post. Thanks!
If you live anywhere near the New York Public Library, go go go right now now now! And then tell me all about it. 🙂
After a talk with Julia, you and fellow attendees will work with the artists to create a collaborative craft project inspired by the book — a classic exquisite corpse, a hand-sewn double-bound book, a giant scroll, or even a crowdsourced short story. Supplies will be on hand (including some amazing images from the NYPL’s image collection) and all you have to do is show up because it’s FREE! So if you’re in town, stop by, get crafty, meet the artists and enter a raffle to win a free copy of the book! (Books will be available for sale, as well.)
I’m so excited about this year because a) I don’t work that day, and b) I finally live in a big city where I have access to more than just the local children’s museum! Museums are a great source of knowledge, art, culture, science, and history in one weather-protected, thought-provoking building. Hooray!!
Here’s how it works: Go to the Smithsonian Magazine website, peruse the list of participating museums and pick one to visit — preferably one you’ve never been to. Then register to download and print out a ticket that provides free admission for two to the museum that you chose; you’ll need this for entry. Each ticket is good for only one museum, and only one ticket is allowed per household.
Mental Flowers 