public works coozies
We don't expect to be held responsible for the upkeep of our public infrastructure in addition to the taxes, fees and fines we already pay. But — in the midst of the “great downturn of 2008” — public objects were at the center of the anti-tax vs. pro-infrastructure spending debate.
When State budgets run dry, and municipalities have to draw back funds to upkeep infrastructure, who will step in to keep communities safe, clean and functional?
Along with friends Citybuilt.org, we question if upkeeping of our own public space can be an opportunity rather than a bitter pill. With “public works coozies” there is a chance to make banal public spaces and purely functional public objects more colorful, soft, approachable and girly.
The work also has a subversive, invasive side to it as well — trespassing upon, and misrepresenting the intention of some infrastructures, is also a goal of the project. This act of “dressing up” pubic works give these objects and spaces a new frame through which to understand ownership in the public realm.
2008
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