urban intervention

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Art

Quippy Interventions by Michael Pederson Are Camouflaged as Legitimate Street Signs

Working as Miguel Marquez Outside, artist Michael Pederson (previously) installs signage around urban areas that at first glance, might appear as an average city-issued nameplate or placard. His clever interventions mimic official warnings and notices in design and placement, disguising their witty messages and unusual purposes. In some of his more recent pieces, Pederson dubs a sagging bench the “Endless Waiting Area,” marks a grassy runway as a pigeon terminal, and installs a miniature wonderland down a drainage tube. Although the artist primarily works in Australia, you can find his unexpected projects in cities around the world, which you can see more of on Instagram.

 

Art

The U.K.’s Iconic Red Post Box Gets a Twisted Makeover in Alex Chinneck’s Surreal Urban Interventions

Master of distortion Alex Chinneck flips parking lots upside down, unzips buildings, and most recently has tied post boxes in knots. Chinneck traffics in everyday structures that are universally recognizable, which serves to unite passersby in reacting to the bizarre interventions. The post box series, which the artist calls ‘Alphabetti Spaghetti‘ has made appearances over the past week across the U.K., in  London, Margate, and Tinsley, adding three bespoke boxes to the more than 115,500 traditional ones that exist across the kingdom. No word yet on whether postmarked letters placed in Chinneck’s sculptures will be delivered. You can see more of the artist’s mind-bending work on Instagram. (via It’s Nice That)

Art

Urban Weed Awards Crown Unwanted Plants with Superlatives

Michael Pederson (previously) takes note of small, peculiar moments with his outdoor interventions. Frequently using subtly humorous signage, the artist, who goes by ‘Miguel Marquez Outside’, draws the attention of passersby to places where perception of seemingly banal scenarios are reimagined in surprising ways. His most recent project was the Urban Weed Awards, for which Pederson created official-looking plaques to denote superlatives for plants that most people might consider a nuisance. He designated three weeds as winners for “unique site”, “best in show”, and “most delicate”. Follow along with Pederson’s work on Instagram and Tumblr. (via This Isn’t Happiness)

Art

A Student Lost in the Easy Freedom of Youth Depicted in a Cross-Stitch Mural by Aheneah

Ana Martins, who works as Aheneah, recently reflected on the relaxed freedom of youth and captured that feeling in a cross-stitched intervention on a wall in Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal. The work is along a popular route to a local school, and is comprised of over 2,300 screws and nearly 760 yards of yarn.

The 22-year-old artist isn’t far from the experience of transitioning from student to adult. Martins shares with Colossal, “Every day, for many years, thousands of kids pass by this wall while going from home to school and from school to home. Most of the time just floating in their thoughts, lost in space, time and routine. Until their paths have to change directions. This happened to me a few years ago.”

She graduated in 2017 with a degree in graphic design, and in her professional work explores the connections between digital and analogue mediums, seeking to  “deconstruct, decontextualize and transform a traditional technique into a modern graphic, connecting cultures and generations.” You can see more from Martins on Instagram and Facebook.

Art

Jan Vormann Invites Playful Interaction by Patching Crumbling Walls with LEGO Bricks

Since 2007, Berlin-based artist Jan Vormann has used tens of thousands of LEGO bricks to patch crumbling holes in architectural structures around the world. His colorful bricks imitate the brick or cobblestone-constructed buildings he often “repairs,” however at a miniature scale. Some pieces have just a few dozen LEGOs incorporated into an installation, while others cover zig-zagging expanses that reach across entire walls.

Recently the artist took his Dispatchwork project to Stavanger, Norway where he participated in the 17th iteration of Nuart Festival. Vormann placed LEGOs into structures with missing grout, filled in bricks that have fallen out of walls, and built around cornerstones which have eroded over time. Vormann encourages others to join him in his playful additions to cities across the globe, and as built an interactive website to track new additions from Cape Town to Seoul. You can follow his miniature constructions, including a new installation at the Venice Architecture Biennal, by following him on Instagram. (via Juxtapoz)

Art

Trees Grow from Bricks and a Storefront on the Streets of New York by Pejac

Elusive Spanish artist Pejac (previously) travels the world creating street interventions, often integrating natural elements into man-made structures through a combination of stenciling and trompe l’oeil painting. His most recent projects have brought him to New York City for the first time, where he has created two arboreal artworks in Bushwick and Chinatown.

Pejac formed Fossil, in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, using a brick-sized stencil to spray paint carefully placed shadows on a brick wall. This illusion of bricks sinking back and surging forward  creates a pixelated tree. Chinatown’s Inner Strength is fully hand-painted, depicting a cherry blossom branch growing out of a security gate and surrounding by flying swallows. Pejac, who often addresses humanity’s fraught relationship to the natural world, describes his newest artworks to Colossal:

Taking a sturdy structure and familiar urban element as a base, Fossil is proposing a hypothetical fatal future in which the only memory of nature is the fossilized appearance of a tree on a brick wall. Opposing the first work, Inner Strength is an empowering piece portraying another hypothetical future in which nature breaks the barriers imposed by the hand of man, recovering the lost ground along the way.

In addition to his outdoor work, Pejac occasionally creates editioned prints using a variety of techniques ranging from lithography to screenprinting. You can follow the artist’s travels on Instagram and Facebook. For those in New York, Fossil is located at 27 Scott Avenue in Brooklyn, and Inner Strength can be found at 2 Henry Street in Manhattan.