Brand Avenue: Lessons from Roadsworth

Via Spacing, a fascinating story about a street artist whose work has been caught in a debate about the boundaries between "art" and "vandalism":

The grey area between graffiti and vandalism is more than theoretical for Roadsworth: his controversial street images have turned pavement into politics in the city of Montreal and rekindled debate about the nature of public art. Peter Gibson, the man behind the Roadsworth graffiti identity, began taking to the streets of Montreal in the early mornings of late 2001, spray-painting cyclist symbols on roads to protest the lack of bike lanes and paths in the city. Gradually his street images developed into increasingly symbolic displays of civic and environmental critique: pedestrian crossings on the Plateau Mont-Royal turned into giant footprints; orange stencils of barbed wire lined crosswalks; heart monitor-like spikes and valleys punctuated centre lines on roadways. Bemused Montrealers, many thinking that the city commissioned the road stencils, were left to contemplate the significance of these images.

The pieces were "very simple, open-ended, ambiguous,” says Gibson. “They were also somewhat integrated with the environment — the street, the road markings — giving them an almost subliminal quality.” Gibson adds, “I think my intention was to create a language that would function as a form of satire, accentuating the absurdity inherent to certain aspects of urban living, urban space, [and] public policy.” But evidently something got lost in translation: Montreal police arrested Gibson on November 29 last year and charged him with 51 counts of mischief, the charges carrying maximum penalties ranging from $200 to $5,000.

What began as subtle, but benign subversion turns out to pose broad political questions about the rampant corporatization of the public realm (which continues to emerge in unsuspecting places):

As Gibson notes, “We aggressively pursue graffiti writers for scrawling their names on a wall across from a massive backlit billboard advertising Big Macs.” Despite the claims of police that the Roadsworth images are a threat to public safety, Gibson argues that what they actually threaten is the corporate monopoly on public space.

Fortunately, the charges against Gibson were dropped earlier this week. Here are some examples of his work (tons of others here), which all display a great affection and concern for Montreal and how its residents live. This is the kind of stuff that makes everyday life more vivid; it creates moments of uniqueness out of otherwise banal stuff. Cities need this kind of love.

Gibson's experience makes me wonder which is worse/better: for street art and various other culture-jamming actions to be kept underground by laws, or formally encouraged? (Gibson was hired by the city to create artwork as part of his "punishment.") I suppose it begins by simply spreading information, and letting everyone connect the dots for themselves.

How do planners and urban designers react to this? How do you spur serendipity? A playful urban condition that benefits everyone?