Thursday, February 19, 2015
This Fake Street Sign is a Public Art Masterpiece
The Creators Project: Once in awhile, a public artwork comes to the aid of public service. A building in Toronto, for instance, is currently a reactive surface visualizing the plight of the homeless. A galloping horse projected from a mobile movie theater is helping expose rural Thailand to cinema. In the case of artist Richard Ankrom, the civil contribution came in the form of Guerrilla Public Service, an art project that saw Ankrom installing fabricated markers onto existing freeway signs without permission. But this was neither a spiked critique á la Luzinterruptus' LED-infused syringes, nor a crowd crystal-type experiment like Sebastian Errazuriz's yawning billboards in Times Square. No, Ankrom's reasoning behind for Guerrilla Public Service is much simpler: "A North panel and 5 shield were fabricated and attached to the existing overhead sign because the information was missing."
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Several things come to mind from reading this article. The first is the times that hackers/pranksters hacked into some highway condition signs and changed them to read “Danger: Zombies Ahead”. While the joke did interrupt a public service, but it was good humored and did not damage anything. Personally I think that seeing that on the way home would improve my day much more than “conditions may be icy”. If I drove under the sign, the one the artist put up, and I knew that it was put there by a individual citizen, I think that would improve my day too. The phrase “be the change you want to see in the world” is I do not think any more true than here. Even something as small as a street sign can be the change in the world. The second thing that comes to mind is one of the things that he mentioned, the possibility that he would be charged with several misdemeanors. If that happened, I would not go so far as to say that the system we have set up purposely goes out of its way to punish the arts, but I would say that the amount of blind bureaucracy in the system is prohibitive. Regardless of his legal status, I admire his approach to the situation, saying that the worst they can do to him is doing what he’s already doing.
I'm not quite sure how to feel about this installation. From an artistic perspective, I can get behind it, just because I'm a big fan of public art installations. However, what Akrom did was incredibly dangerous. However, I think the work ended up speaking for itself when California waited 8 years to actually put a new sign up. Either they simply were just too oblivious to hear or know about the new sign installation, or someone actually appreciated Akrom's work and decided to leave it up simply because he did such a good job of actually replicating the sign to the state's sign standards. Seeing the process was actually quite interesting, especially how he installed the sign simply by dressing up as a worker, because no one would question someone in a uniform that looked like they were supposed to be doing the work anyway.
I don't know if I find this art piece a creative or concerning because of where they put it and why. I know that if I didn't see this video and wasn't familiar with the area I would be very upset to follow what this sign is saying. It's confusing that they would put an art piece up on a sign to confuse the public. They are just lucky we have GPSs and other ways of finding where we are if we are lost. But when people do stuff like this it really upsets me because it's just not right. No matter how creative they feel like they are. And I know it's almost like a joke that could be admired, but I don't this this is art, this is just rubbish. And I hope other artist don't do this unless it's put in a museum instead of being part of the public transportation system.
I feel like I just saw an adult preform a bad prank in the form of art, that's probably because that's what it was. I hate when crazy people call themselves artists and do things like this. Kids in my neighborhood used to switch the the numbers on the fronts of houses because they though it was funny that the house numbers didn't make sense and that people had different addresses. Public transportation information is very critical to travelers trying to get to their destination on time and most of all safely. In addition what is the statement that he is trying to make? That art can hurt people? That some art is annoying to the public? I personally would not even consider this art, it's just false or needless information that doesn't add anything to my life. Art should be beneficial to our lives, Art is supposed to make us have an emotion or differing emotions. This "artist" will get what he deserves when some artist puts a "10" sticker over his "1" year community service sentence.
Hmm. As I'm not much of a car driver myself, I guess it would be hard for me to comment on how much it means to have signs like these come up as soon as possible. But it's a very intriguing idea to use installation art to make a statement as...needed as this sin is. With most installation art, artists are trying to make a bigger comment on a rather huge issues like war, sexuality, politics -- that sort of heart-wrenching stuff. But a mixed up sign on a freeway? Not so heart-wrenching, as much as it is annoying. Yet still. Art is there for a reason, and as simple as this reason is, it's still sort of needed . And slightly hilarious, if you think about it. I still can't wrap my head around California waiting so long, or not even noticing the lack of sign. Especially when people talk about how concerned with traffic and driving as those people are.
At first I was really concerned with the idea that a guerrilla artist was creating a fake street sign. But when I learned that he was merely adding information to a sign because he didn't find it clear enough, I was more confused than upset. I really didn't find what he did as being in any way groundbreaking. There was not very much risk involved, or at least not as much as they were insinuating in the article. Also I don't really see this as being art. In my opinion, art does something to make a statement, it has a purpose beyond what one sees on the outside. But this does not appear to have any kind of deeper meaning whatsoever. This guy decided that a sign lacked information, so he fabricated and added the necessary information. None of that sounds like art to me. And frankly, if this artist were to have done anything more than what he did, it could have been a major distraction or safety hazard. Honestly, there isn't very much that can be done in the name of art when it comes to messing with highway signs.
This is very interesting, because the idea of guerrilla public service could lean both ways. I love what he has done to the sign—he saw a problem, and went out and fixed it. His sign obviously was helpful, as the city decided to keep it, and so his work truly was an act of public service. He had the right idea about what needed to happen and the right execution. However, I think this could go wrong pretty easily, especially as what one person thinks is confusing or inconvenient might go completely against what another person thinks. A misunderstanding of what is “for the public good” could lead to catastrophic vandalism and misdirection of traffic, even if performed with the best of intentions. I love what he has done with this, but I do hope that anyone else who wants to add information to road signs just contacts the department of transportation and notifies them of the confusion.
I think this can be looked at as an interesting piece of art if you completely disregard the safety of others. How many people were thrown off by the addition to this sign? Defend it all you want, it is a danger and a distraction. I'm going to be completely honest, there are few things that annoy me more than artists who believe that art is the single most important thing in the world, and the only thing that matters. Thomas A. Kelly, the Broadway stage manager (and not the freshman), says something in his stage management handbook about how during a particularly frustrating tech rehearsal, he looked over at the headline on the newspaper about the Cuban missile crisis. He realized at this moment that we are just a bunch of adults playing pretend while real things happen outside the theatre walls. This puts things in perspective for him when he is getting pissed off during a show. I think the same principle can be applied to other forms of art; it is important to keep in mind that the real world is not made up of installations and artistic integrity, it is made up of people trying to live their everyday lives. Yes, you made some cool art, I am happy for you. Do not put other people's safety at risk for your own praise and satisfaction.
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