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PreFab Parks for Park(ing) Day

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBNUQsEUKlU&feature=player_embedded

Every year in New York, parking spots are taken over by people wanting to transform urban space into something more useable than concrete boxed in by painted lines under the banner of, Park(ing) Day. The even was originally imaged by San Fransisco’s Rebar, an interdisciplinary studio operating at the intersection of art, design and activism. The “small, functional, vibrant” parks that are part of Park(ing) Day each have a theme and are nearly all temporarily turfed with sod.

In the video, there’s a number of interviews highlighting people taking on the initiative for fun or for politics, but nearly all want to suggest the potential for rethinking the many, many, many parking spaces used by a single car at a time.

This certainly works given the sheer number of people in a city like New York, but if there was one parking spot in Windsor that you’d take over for a day, where would it be?

[via Worldchanging]

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The Last Couple Weeks at BCL HQ

BCL HQ

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks settling into our new headquarters, working on applications and ideas for the fall and winter. We’ve also cleared our consultancy out of the downtown space, seeing as Visual Fringe is over and it was high on the to-do list. Having a dedicated space has been incredible so far, and all we’ve done is basically set up some tables and go over some paperwork.

Needless to say that come September, with more people back in town and our schedules better aligned. our new space is going to be even more amazing.

So, as most of what we’ve been doing is somewhat scattered and in numerous Word and Excel documents and in the mail and on someone else’s desk, here’s a brief overview of our activities as of late.

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Broken City Lab: Micro-Residencies

Broken City Lab: Micro-Residency

We’ll give you a place to stay and resources for 72 hours. You’ll help us fix the city.

For the last year, we’ve been working away on a number of initiatives that have come out of our very specific examinations of Windsor, Ontario. The ways in which we see, experience, and move through the city have defined our tactical investigations and have, by design, been based on our deeply embedded concerns about our city.

We’re now looking to expand our research and our understanding of our city by inviting other artists, designers, writers, curators, architects, filmmakers, philosophers, musicians, mathematicians, scientists, and students to come stay with us for 72 hours. We’re looking for collaborators who are generous, energetic, and interested in understanding Windsor. We’re not necessarily looking for completed ideas, but rather general concerns you would like to investigate and workshop over three days.

We can’t offer any money, but we can offer a bed.

We  won’t do anything illegal, but we will give you our energy and ideas.

If you can get to Windsor, we can make this happen.

Should this opportunity interest you, please apply using the Micro-Residency Submission Form.

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Wheat Pasted Pixels

tipocracia

Interesting technique for wheat pasting by Pedro Biz. Using cut up squares of paper and a well-mixed wheat paste, the effect is something like an 8-bit intervention. I’d imagine larger squares would magnify the effect, where more squares in general would allow for the best method for achieving larger images.

If time is on your side, this could be a nice alternative to the general single piece of paper poster most-often seen around a city. In Windsor though, good ol’ packaging tape is a favourite of concert promoters and owners of missing pets alike.

[via Rebel Art]

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Fence Love

fence love

I’m sure there will never be a lack of fence-related interventions, but this one in particular seemed worth posting. Small and simple, but the technique is so obvious and effective (if likely slow-going), I had to add it to our research archives.

[via Radical Cross Stitch]

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University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture: Undulating Planters

University of Waterloo's School of Architecture

Danielle and I spent the day at the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture with the DodoLab team planning out a project that will take place in PEI near the end of August. Near the side of the building in this kind of walkway between two parts of the school, we saw this installation, completed by a 4th year architecture class.

The installation consists of a huge number of used coffee cups, chicken wire, and transplanted grasses and flowers. It undulates mildly until reaching the rail for the steps (in the right-side of the photo) where the planters climb the rail. The chicken wire is supported by other coffee cups and those cardboard heat-shields.

We didn’t get to speak to anyone who worked on this project, but it was another great reference for our own ongoing research.

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Road-Side Signs

roadsign

Spending some extra time in and around Essex County over the last week has led to the sighting of an incredible number of these road-side signs. Most often, they’re used to advertise a local shop or event, but the abundance of them on a range of properties on main roads is interesting.

Of course, interesting in the way that they hold potential for something more interesting.

Given that there seems to be no bylaws outlining the placement of these things, the next step is to figure out how much they are to rent, where in the city of Windsor they might be able to be placed, and then figuring out what we might be able to do with such signs.

Does anyone know of any particular locations of where to find these in Windsor? Has anyone rented before or have any idea on the potential cost in working with these?

[Image via Dark Roasted Blend]

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Oh, Paperwork in the New HQ

working at night

We spent the better part of the evening at our new headquarters located at the edge of campus. It’s exceptionally great to be in a place that we can use as a work space / office space that we’ll be able to leave setup. Working in Lebel for the past year was good for a number of reasons, but was also difficult as we shared the space with the Green Corridor class, so we always had to pack up everything at the end of the night. Now, we’ll be able to spread out and have a better space to work together.

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