Street art is fascinating enough on it’s own but, given it’s ephemeral nature, the act of photographing it is essential. And sometimes a photograph of street art, when it’s from an interesting angle or incorporates experiments with color, light, and/or contrast, is a piece of art in itself. Annie Ridlon, of Moontree Studios in Jamaica Plain, writes on her Flickr page:

"In my neighborhood there's a 300 foot wall tucked away behind the train tracks, which serves as the canvas for one of the most gorgeous, ever-changing street murals I've ever beheld. It's pretty much a secret, so there's not many people who even know of its existence.

The wall is in a constant state of flux. Every day new pieces are added, old paint crumbles or is intentionally destroyed, layers of tags and signs and full-blown pieces are layered on top of one another. It's an incredible riot of color and texture. It's also a testament to the creative subculture which created it, and to the ever evolving nature of art itself."

Photographing the mural has become a project for Ridlon, as it has for many members of Flickr’s street art groups, who scour the streets on an unending treasure hunt for the perfect (or imperfect, which can be just as alluring) stencil or freshly wheatpasted poster. Below, a smattering of Ridlon’s photos, which she’s selling prints of on the website/crafters heaven, Etsy.







Photos by oxymephorous.

We're also digging this conceptually similar, up-close photo of the Wall in Central Square, snapped by eatskisleep.



And speaking of crafting, knitgirl is injecting originality into Vancouver’s street art scene, one brightly woven cozy at a time. If Banksy spent a few afternoons hanging out with your grandmother, this might be the result, and we totally adore the concept. knitgirl’s works seem to be everywhere - poles, trees, bikes - and it’s making us want to steal the idea, pick up some knitting sticks, and spread the trend to Boston. There’s just something so friendly - not to mention more accessible - about it. Not all street art is so easily likeable - sometimes glaring tags can be offputting. knitgirl's work is like a friendly reminder that street art can be created in any medium, and in any place. After all, who hates mittens? Photos below. 


Photo by Yorri¢k.


Photo by REDRUM (AYS).


Photo by Knightmusik. [Ed. note - We totally want one of these for our bike.]

More knitgirl photos here.

--Caitlin E. Curran

5/5/2008 4:52:58 PM by Will Spitz | Comments [0] |  

Last week, Slate's video editor Andy Bowers posted a video of his self-nominated "Stupidest Bike Lane in America," a lane in Western Los Angeles that runs a mere 275 feet before disappearing suddenly and completely amidst busy LA traffic - sort of a "Fuck off" to bikers from LA road officials. The video:



It's undoubtedly a dangerous gaffe by non-bike minded road planners but, as many Boston bikers were eager to point out on the Critical Mass e-mail list over the weekend, any local biker has probably seen worse. Ever tried to bike through Harvard Square? Lanes disappear, then re-appear, vanish into sidewalks with high curbs, mysteriously transfer to the opposite side of the road, or are wholly swallowed by construction sites. And that's Cambridge, which is decidedly the most bike-friendly part of the city. Any downtown, Back Bay, or Allston cyclist considers bike lanes an uncommon treat. Still, what's the point of even having a bike lane if it could possibly be more dangerous - blindly leading bikers to a dead end - then no bike lane at all?

-Caitlin E. Curran

3/31/2008 10:53:50 AM by Will Spitz | Comments [0] |  

Last Wednesday night began average enough for Lee Peters. He stopped in at Economy Hardware on Mass Ave in Boston, near Christian Science Plaza, around 6 p.m. When he walked outside, he explains via an e-mail from the Boston Critical Mass chain, he saw “two people standing around my bike in the middle of stealing it. I ran forward, the guy saw me laughed as if we were friends. Then he took a swing at me with the bolt cutters. I ducked. He ran. I got on my bike to follow. I couldn't find him.”

But the story doesn’t end there. Turns out there are some Good Samaritans in Boston - Christian Science Monitor staffer Andrew Heining, a stranger to Peters, who’d had two bikes stolen in the same area, witnessed the incident, and took action. He explains, via a lengthy entry from his Facebook page (we shortened it to the abridged version):

“One of them ran across Mass. Ave., directly toward me. Never one to shy from the action, I took chase. In fact, I began yelling: 'Call the police! This guy's stealing bikes!'

I was right on his heels for most of the chase (I was on my bike and he on foot), and I never stopped yelling for people to call the police, much to their collective puzzlement... It was at this point that he got a little tired of me following him, and he stopped running... I again yelled for someone to call the police (and this time, someone did - a bystander from Mass Ave, who'd followed us, cell phone in hand, and was standing behind me now)... he came at me, swinging the bag of tools he'd been carrying - a pair of bolt cutters, a socket set, a screwdriver, and I think a saw - hitting me in the back. We wrestled, Greco roman style... he escaped, pushing both me and the other guy who'd stopped to help out of the way, and running, this time up Dalton St., over the Mass Pike. ...a police car came screaming down Scotia street after like 45 seconds, and, upon being told that I had been chasing the thief, the officer told me to get in and help him look for him.”

A different police car eventually tracked down the thief, and the police asked Heining to ID him. Now, he says, the thief is being charged with: "larceny, being in possession of burglary tools (he dropped the bag of them in the scuffle with me at Scotia street), and, get this – assault with a deadly weapon. Yep, that bag of tools constituted a deadly weapon."

One bike thief down, thanks to two unfuckwithable bystanders. And a bunch o’ police. Nice job, guys.

9/24/2007 3:07:02 PM by Caitlin | Comments [1] |  

Today’s Globe features a front page, above the fold story about Mayor Menino’s plans to make Boston more bike friendly (titled “Pedal Pushing,” ugh. Did someone’s grandmother think up that headline?). It’s serendipitous timing since, as I was biking to work today I:  a) was nearly hit by some dude in a black two-door of some sort, who sped past me to get to the um, red light. Which was about 50 feet ahead. And b) was nearly hit by a white SUV of some sort, which swerved in front of me just over the BU bridge, in an apparently speedy race to get to the quiet neighborhoods of Brookline.  So now Boston's going to become a biking city?

Menino has big plans:

“A newly converted cyclist himself, Menino will announce today the hiring of a bike czar, former Olympic cyclist Nicole Freedman, and a first phase of improvements to include 250 new bike racks across Boston and an online map system.

In the next several years, Menino said, he plans to create a network of bike lanes on roads such as Massachusetts Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay and the Fenway. Paths could also be constructed to connect the Emerald Necklace system of parks, and the mayor is looking at facilities like showers, bike storage areas, and automated bike rental systems that make wheels instantly available to anyone with a credit card.”

There’s more!

“Boston's planners also hope to address a major concern: About one-fourth of respondents to a 2005 Internet poll of area residents said they would ride to work more often if there were showers available.

Officials plan to encourage businesses to offer shower facilities, and will try to encourage local gyms to allow nonmembers to use their showers. The city is also considering coin-operated public showers.”

That all sounds great, but what’s not discussed in the story is an epiphany I had after my frustrating ride to work today, is that there’s a massive problem with driver mentality.  The people that speed past bikers, or cut us off, or honk their horns, and give us dirty looks think of the road as their road. They think the road belongs to cars, and we bikers are permitted to use it occasionally, provided we stay out of the way, like polite road guests. There’s a reason those “Share the road” stickers are kicking around - those of us who choose to bike are tired of this mode of thinking. Menino’s bike lanes might give us a bit more space, and a shower here and there would be nice (gotta shed that whole smelly biker rep), but until Boston’s drivers are willing to be conscious of the fact that the road belongs to everyone, Boston’s spot at the top of worst biking city lists will hold firm. So, what's Menino's plan of attack for that?

 

9/20/2007 1:07:03 PM by Caitlin | Comments [0] |