Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Remaking the world



I've always been a believer that out of scarcity grows creativity. And there's no denying these are scarce times. Things around here range from re-use to reinvention to plain old civil disobedience. But every time I catch something I haven't seen before, 'Is that what I think it is?' gives way to 'Why didn't I think of that?'

One of our most prolific interventionists was tragically murdered nearly a year ago, just blocks from where we live. But the ongoing efforts to claim, beautify, and complicate space show that he was part of a much larger conversation. What you see here is a small sampling from a 6-block radius.







(an old ladder turned on its side becomes a fence)



(it's a bike, and someone rode it there)

4 comments:

tracy said...

I keep looking at that signage thing, the first picture, and thinking, "I want that in my yard."

Christy said...

I know! It's a street sign someone adapted probably 6 months ago now -- totally untouched by the sign police. Next time you're in Chicago we can check it out in person.

leslie said...

The SOLVE memorial—is that near you, too?

Christy said...

I'm pretty sure the SOLVE memorial is a few miles southeast of us, but a bunch of SOLVE pieces survive in Logan Square.