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Posts Tagged ‘whimsy’

Inspiration from a “Rat Hole”

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on March 28, 2024| 4 Comments »

Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
“Chicago’s ‘Rat Hole’ has become an unofficial city landmark as hundreds have flocked to pay tribute to the unidentified rodent imprint,” Hyperallergic reports.

Never underestimate the capacity of humans for fun and creativity. And be glad that social media amplifies good things, not just bad.

Rhea Nayyar writes at Hyperallergic, “In less than two whole weeks, the internet has turned a mildly interesting pavement impression on a residential sidewalk slab in Chicago into a viral local tourism site and a wellspring of artistic inspiration.

“The Chicago Rat Hole is exactly what it’s named — an imprint of a rat (or perhaps a squirrel) that fell with some force on a sidewalk panel that hadn’t fully dried yet. Some locals say it’s been there for over 20 years, but all it took was one post on X [site formerly known as Twitter] to turn the Rat Hole into something just short of a national landmark.

There is so much whimsy in going about your daily life here! That’s what I love about the Rat Hole the most

“Since artist and comedian Winslow Dumaine tweeted about his pilgrimage to the Rat Hole [January 2024] hundreds of people have flocked to the city’s Roscoe Village neighborhood to pay tribute to the unidentified rodent and its signature. What began as an innocent meme crept slowly into a small monument as people started leaving loose change and cigarettes and pouring one out over the hole, and then spiraled into something major. Offerings went from coins and smokes to flowers, cards, jewelry, hats, trinkets, toys, posters, and personalized artwork as the site drew more attention on TikTok and X.

“But it didn’t stop there. People built a community around the Rat Hole. Some groups have congregated and started drinking and partying together at the site, one couple got engaged in front of it, and another held a gay wedding there, complete with a balloon arch and everything. …

“Chicago-based artist and Etsy seller Margot la Rue was quick to cement the Rat Hole into the city’s iconography by replacing the stars of the official flag with silhouettes of the imprint and adding it to the label of the locally famous Jeppson’s Malört liquor bottle motif for iron-on patches. La Rue told Hyperallergic that she visited the Hole and chatted with a neighbor who was sitting on her porch at the time.

“ ‘She said over the weekend there was a line down the block to see the rat hole,’ La Rue recounted. … ‘It is very Chicago,’ the artist continued. ‘The city is simultaneously shiny and gritty — turning a rat shape in a sidewalk into a cultural landmark is very on brand.’ …

“Anthony Hall, one half of the Chicago-based design duo Harebrained, shared that people can get their very own Rat Hole t-shirt now. … Nick, a tattoo artist who goes by Inked Skunk on social media, recently moved to Chicago from New England and was really excited by the buzz around the Rat Hole. Enamored by the culture, Nick is offering Rat Hole-inspired tattoos. … ‘Since moving here, I’ve picked up such a different energy from the people and the area itself. There is so much whimsy in going about your daily life here! That’s what I love about the Rat Hole the most — it’s just a silly reminder that life doesn’t have to be so serious.’ …

“A less permanent option for Rat Hole fans who happen to be baddies is local nail technician Jena’s (@nailswithonen) artistic nail set tribute to the landmark. …

“Perhaps the most impressive ode to the Rat Hole is its commemorative plaque commissioned by Riot Fest, Chicago’s annual punk rock music festival. … The plaque has been converted into a t-shirt as well with all proceeds directed toward benefiting the city’s Douglass Park neighborhood and surrounding community via the Riot Fest Foundation. …

“But considering that the Rat Hole sits on a residential street, the loitering, littering, and loud noises have become a nuisance for the locals. One neighbor even took to Reddit to bullet-point out how the Rat Hole frenzy has impacted their life. … To anyone looking to make a pilgrimage to the Rat Hole as its future remains unclear, remember to be respectful of the neighborhood and keep the area clean.”

More at Hyperallergic, here.

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Urban Art Transcends Surroundings

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on March 5, 2024| 5 Comments »

Photo: S.C. Mero.
Ladybugs nestle into the intersection of 9th, Main, and Spring Streets in Los Angeles, spring 2023. LA’s Fashion District commissioned S.C. Mero to create a series of installations to decorate the median, which had fallen into disrepair.

Art can lift up a community. It can be an outlet for feelings of all kinds. Whether it’s the art of graffiti (see Manny’s documentary Stations of the Elevated), the art of whimsy, or any other kind.

In today’s post, Ali Martin interviews a whimsical street artist, S.C. Mero, for the MonitorDaily.

“In downtown Los Angeles, absurdity interrupts urban blight: A fire hydrant sprouts stockinged legs; a winged telephone leaps from a phone booth; a mailbox towers, inaccessible, over passersby. 

“The city’s historic business district and surrounding neighborhoods are the backdrop for contemporary street artist S.C. Mero, who sees opportunity in a landscape dogged by disappointment and deferred dreams.

“The Minnesota native embraced the area, known as DTLA, after graduating from the University of Southern California (USC) a decade ago. Today, her rogue installations are part of downtown’s creative fabric – and local authorities are in on it. She’s been honored by the city for her contributions to the Skid Row neighborhood and commissioned by the nearby Fashion District to decorate a median at an intersection.

“Transformation governs her art. Ms. Mero’s first pieces were mosaics made of pennies which she altered with heat, dye, and tools. Other projects reshape abandoned spaces into commentaries on politics and humanity. 

“Her work insists on hope, which she describes as rebellious. ‘To put something like cute little turtles on a median with downtown the way it is, it’s resisting something, right? It’s resisting the default, which is to be negative,’ says Ms. Mero.

“The Monitor spoke with Ms. Mero at Something Poetic, her venue for performance art. The space, offered to her during the pandemic by the Historic Core Business Improvement District, has become a hub for local artists. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length. 

“Monitor: Why downtown? You joined an artist collective on Skid Row after graduating from USC. I’m guessing there were other options. 
“S.C. Mero: I think my mom asked me the same question all the time. I just feel like it’s a good fit for what I’m doing. It’s really a creative vortex. … You have the Arts District, the Flower District, the Fashion District, Little Tokyo, you have the Industrial District, the Financial District. And maybe that’s typical of most cities, but I feel like there’s a lot happening here and it’s good for cultivating ideas.  I’ve just felt like I want to see it through, too. Look at these [historic, vacant] buildings. I think this could come back to life and they’re not there yet. So I want to be part of that transition. …

“You look at a pothole, you look at something breaking down around you, and you see whimsy and light. How does that happen? 
“Because nobody cares about it anymore. It’s free game, right? Nobody’s going to stop you from really, truly doing anything on a pay phone right now, or a newspaper stand, or – in certain areas – a pothole. … To do anything to it, people are like, ‘Oh, you know, it’s better than what was there.’ 

“What do you want people to take away from your art? 
“I feel like wanting people to take away something is in a way thinking that I want something from them. … I’m thankful that they are even allowing me to do it. So the fact that their reaction is positive, I’m just even more grateful for that – it makes it a little easier to be able to keep doing it. So I don’t know if I want a certain reaction from people. I just hope that they can find something that they do that they love as much as what I’m doing. 

“Is there a theme or an idea that pulses through your work?
“Yes. At first I didn’t really see it. … The age-old idea of spiritual growth and transformation. And I think that that’s evident in a lot of my work – the whole idea that something can lose its identity or lose its value, but then come back even stronger. 

“A lot of my work is critical of our government, but I still maintain hope that there is a better way. It speaks to the truth because it’s not really about a payphone or a penny. We’re no different than that, right? Something is that way, but it can be better. What does it take for that to happen? It takes a belief, for one. It’s not going to get better by not thinking or imagining or seeing it that way. 

“What is the relationship between your work and the downtown community?
“They’re as much of a part of [the art] as I am. It’s that we’re-in-this-together kind of vibe. Whether they like the piece or not, they get it because they’ve seen that pothole. They’ve seen a payphone like that. … It has that sense of camaraderie, I think.”

More at the Monitor, here. Note the funny mailbox, among other things.

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This Is Not a Street

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on August 22, 2018| 2 Comments »

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Photo: Ian Langsdon/EPA
René Magritte’s 1929 painting La Trahison des Images, ceci n’est pas une pipe inspired a funny street name in Belgium. Given the opportunity to name streets, Belgians revealed themselves to be worthy of wearing the mantle of their imaginative compatriot.

I’ve always loved both the whimsy and depth of Belgian surrealist René Magritte, the artist with the green apples and bowler hats floating in clouds. Now a street-naming effort has revealed that the people of Belgium are worthy of wearing their compatriot’s august mantle.

Jennifer Rankin writes at the Guardian, “In Brussels, the home of surrealism, city officials have given their blessing to rename a street in homage to one of René Magritte’s best-known paintings. Ceci n’est pas une rue (This is not a street) is inspired by The Treachery of Images, painted in 1929 by the Belgian artist, who lived in Brussels for decades.

“It was one of nearly 1,400 suggestions made by the public in response to an initiative to generate interest in a regeneration project in a former industrial district in the north of the city. …

“Many of the winning names are whimsical or poetic, or evoke the quirkiness of the Belgian capital. In a rejuvenated park, pedestrians and cyclists will be able to follow Better World Path, or Happiness Way. Visitors may end up on Place des choukes — chouke, ‘little cabbage,’ translates as a warmer version of ‘darling.’ A final stop might be Dreams Drive, euphonious Drèves des rêves or Dromendreef. … All treet names are in French and [Flemish]. …

“The final names were chosen by a jury comprising city officials, local heritage experts and property developer Extensa, which bought the vast derelict site from the Brussels capital region in 1999. …

“Kris Verhellen, chief executive of Extensa, said the company would never have dared to make some of the suggestions. …

I thought it was very moving because we are so used to being so negative about this city.’

“While most of the streets will be private, the larger ones leading to the site will be public. But tourists looking for a selfie will have to wait a few years, as most will not be redeveloped until 2020.

“Not every suggestion made the cut. The jury rejected Rue du gentrification — an implicit criticism that the development company rebuffed, saying that up to 25% of the newly-built apartments was social housing.”

More at the Guardian, here.

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Architectural Chuckles

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on September 27, 2017| 2 Comments »

Photo: Stephen O’Flaherty
Sculptor Alex Chinneck creates architectural optical illusions. This exhausted house is in Margate, UK. More photos here.

My husband thought readers might enjoy British sculptor Alex Chinneck’s whimsical take on the built environment. As Elle Hunt wrote for the Guardian, “His melting houses and floating building have earned the British sculptor a reputation as a master of urban illusion.”

For example, ” ‘From the Knees of My Nose to the Belly of My Toes,’ [above] created the impression that the entire facade of a house in Margate had slid into the garden. Chinneck says he often aims to create something that fits in so well with its surroundings, it can be easily missed.

“The house in Margate had been derelict for 11 years when Chinneck found the right property for his ‘very large project.’ Ten companies donated all the processes and materials required for the project, and after its months-long run, it was reused as housing. ‘Architecture provides a fantastic canvas for sculpture,’ he said at the time. …

“His first-ever permanent work, ‘Six Pins and Half a Dozen Needles,’ … was commissioned as part of the Assembly London office and retail complex in Hammersmith, on the site of a former publishing house. A prominent part of the building had the same ratios to an A4 sheet of paper, planting the seed for Chinneck’s large-scale response. Chinneck says context is especially important to him when a structure will be permanent. ‘There’s something fantastic about responding to a new architectural context …

” ‘‘The path to realising these ideas is a very hard one, but the conception of them is quite simple. We just tore paper and scanned it and found one that we liked,’ he explains. …

“A crane had to be taken apart to access the back of the building, then rebuilt to lift each piece into the air and onto the building.” …

“In 2014, Chinneck made a building in London’s Covent Garden market look as though it was floating mid-air. The illusion of weightlessness took a lot of polystyrene and 16 tonnes of steel. He says his closest collaborator is his structural engineer, who he talks to every day. ‘I create the problems, and he solves them. He is that difference between it being an idea and the transformation into it slowly becoming a reality.’ ”

Check out the Guardian, here, for more great shots.

Photo: Charles Emerson
Alex Chinneck’s first permanent architectural sculpture, commissioned as part of the Assembly London office and retail complex. The biggest hurdle was attaining planning permission.

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