(small) creative initiatives that challenge (big) traditional ideas
• ( egoistic ) • activistic • architectural • audible • cinematic • conceptual • graphic • strategic • surface • urban • wireless
The Guardian asked its readers to share their pictures of what cyclists have to put up with. Here are 20 highlights lowlights.
• More photos on The Guardian
A piece of urban furniture and landmark created by pupils at the elementary school Tove Ditlevsens Skole (TDS) in Copenhagen.
The sculptural object is one of many elements conceived to revitalize the public space around the school and in Copenhagen's Vesterbro district in general.
The idea behind the object is developed by the pupils themselves after a week of workshops and prototyping facilitated by the urban network Supertanker.
• More info on Facebook (in Danish)
A flashmob is planned on the last day of 2012 in Berlin in honor of the experimental composer John Cage.
The flashmob will stage John Cage's famous composition 4'33" - aka four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence.
The piece was composed in 1952 for any instrument and the score instructs the performer not to play the instrument during the entire duration of the piece.
Everybody can participate in the collective performance of 4'33". Only requirements are to bring an instrument and NOT to play it during the performance.
Meeting point: Alexanderplatz, Berlin
Date and time: December 30th 2012 at 15:00 / 3pm
"Everything we do is music" - John Cage
• More info on Facebook and here
Posted by Sebastian on Dec 13, 2012
Sticker-hack on a bike traffic-light in Copenhagen.
Copenhagen Metro is helping promote talented Danish authors, poets and graphic artists by distributing their works at various Metro stations.
The project is a result of a competition held earlier this year, which led to the publication of 13 small booklets that are offered to passengers free of charge.
The booklets have been published in 300.000 copies, and they are also available for download.
Metro-Literature is produced by Copenhagen Metro in collaboration with the Italian initiative Subway Letteratura.
The Democratic Set is a rapid series of short screen-based video portraits created by the Australian Back to Back Theatre.
The latest version of the project features inhabitants in the Belgium city of Leuven, who were invited to show up at an outdoor filmset and perform a small act.
After five days of filming, the footage was turned into a 17 minute long alternative video portrait of Leuven and its people.
The project was commissioned by the art center STUK.
The petrol station Statoil has created a *bicycle nursery* to meet the needs of Copenhagen's ever growing bike culture.
Selected petrol stations now have small designated bicycle areas equipped with pumps, soapy water, sponges, paper towels and plastic gloves. Cyclists can also borrow a bicycle care kit with hex keys, oil and tire levers.
The service is free of charge and Statoil has used the occasion to add bike essentials such as patch kits and lights to its product assortment (not free of charge).
Other bike related posts: Bicycle Butlers + Cykelbanditten targets ugly bikes + FreeBikes + Bycicle Cover Ads
• Statoil Cykelpleje (in Danish)
Sound Tossing is a project that combines shoe-tossing (the act of throwing a pair of shoes onto overhead wires) and DIY audio electronics.
Small sound generators hooked up to loudspeakers are thrown onto overhead electric wires, buildings and trees, from which they emit acoustic signals.
The project's prototype "urban cricket" is a solar powered audio device that releases cricket sounds. Other components that can be used to generate sounds are motion detectors, timers and light-sensetive switches.
Sound Tossing (aka "soundfiti") is created by Reinhard Gupfinger from Austria who ran DIY workshops at this year's Ars Electronica Festival. Instructions on how to build a unit is available online. The website does no provide much info on the environmental consequences, so we'll assume that you are supposed to clean up after yourself.
Related: Led Throwies by Graffiti Research Lab.
Copenhagen is about to get itself a new place called the Red Square. As opposed to its famous pendant in Moscow, the one in Copenhagen is red, literally.
The square is painted in red tones and in rectangular shapes. When viewed from above, it looks like a three-dimensional skewed shape.
The square is a part of the urban park 'Superkilen', a long stretch which also contains a green and a black zone. Each zone facilitates different activities.
Ping-Pong tables from Spain
Benches from Kuwait
Signage from Russia
Playground from Japan
Bike racks from Norway
Superkilen is located in Nørrebro (north-west), a multicultural part of Copenhagen with 60 different nationalities represented. To reflect the community, the park will be furnished with elements like benches, bins, trees, playgrounds, ping-pong tables, lamp-posts and signage - all imported from 60 different countries.
Superkilen is created by Superflex, (BIG) Bjarke Ingels Group and TOPOTEK1.
Related color landmarks: Favela Painting + Beukelsblue + Blue Road + Delete project
• www.superkilen.dk (in Danish)
The Free Art and Technology Lab (F.A.T) has created a series of 100 QR stencil designs that can be used to provide directions, information, and warnings to digital nomads in urban space.
The project - called "Hobo Codes" - is inspired by the Hobo signs developed by 19th century vagabonds and migratory workers to cope with the difficulty of nomadic life.
QR codes usually direct users to a URL, but the digital Hobo Codes contains simple information, such as an advice or warning. Scanning the codes reveal messages like "vegans beware", "those aren't women" and "it's fake".
The stencils are made using the "QR Stencil Generator", a utility which converts QR codes into vector-based stencil patterns suitable for laser-cutting. The stencil generator is developed by Golan Levin and Asa Foster III.
• QR Stenciler and QR Hobo Codes
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Contact: Sebastian Campion