Bus stops are to be transformed into works of art in a London-wide design project.A digital artist has designed a computer programme to create images for the tops of bus shelters after being inspired by attempts to beautify the roofs on his local route.
Alfie Dennen, 33, from Hackney, says he wants to provide a canvas to allow Londoners and communities to tell their stories to thousands of passengers every day.
“I live in Kingsland Road and there's someone who throws painted toothpicks with potatoes on to bus stops. Then there's another person who leaves trails of hearts and grass on them. A lot of people do stuff like that on bus routes,” he said.
“It will be a public artists' resource, but really it's to put art in the hands of the people.”
Mr Dennen estimates the cost of the project at about £300,000 and he has been shortlisted for Arts Council funding. He said the concept “turns art on its head” and is intended to empower the public and create a genuinely community art experience that he hopes will reflect the cultural diversity of London.
He will have panels of programmable LEDs installed on the roofs of 64 bus shelters, two for every borough. His computer programme for creating the designs works in a similar way to graphics editing programme Photoshop, providing every user with tools. “There's a standardised toolkit — lines, spray can function, circles. It's the same for everyone: artist Anish Kapoor would be using the same tool kit to make his canvas as a 14-year-old kid from Dalston,” said Mr Dennen.
Bus stop artists will upload their designs to Mr Dennen's website, where visitors will vote for which they want to see on a shelter roof. The chosen designs are sent to a modem at the bus stop and appear on the LEDs. Designers can also specify what time they want their work to show.
Mr Dennen said:“It's a very, very big public art project. Bus stops are quite incredible structures — regular, modular and they serve a social function — they're just quite wonderful social projects. We're hopeful we'll get funding,” he said.
He is the co-founder of mobile blogging site Moblog, and is no stranger to public art projects. His website We're Not Afraid, which he set up after the 7/7 bombings to show that Londoners would not let terrorism stop their freedom, attracted 3,500 images in days.
The first comment I saw posted about this on "The Times Online" was of a rather pessimistic person that feels £300k is a waste of money for something that will get vandalised in moments. Well if we all felt like that then we'd never achieve anything. Street art is an interesting way to use the everyday elements as exhibition spaces and take the art to people who normally may not get exposed to these creative elements. I for one hope this project succeeds!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Alfie Dennen and Paula Le Dieu! Their dead simple yet brilliant concept for putting art on the tops of bus stops was selected from a shortlist of 5 to win the London region commission for the Cultural Olympiad project, Artists Taking the Lead.
ReplyDeleteSpiky potatoes will pale into vaguely remembered gimmickry once Bus Tops are delivered and we're keen to follow how the project develops, how art is chosen and disseminated across the network. We're already looking forward to our upper deck and birds eye view from flats and offices being enhanced. Hopefully, here's a project to capture the imagination of people across the capital, potentially with a life beyond 2012. Roll on Bus Tops.