Taking (it to) the streets!

In the last few weeks I've done a couple entries about actions where people-groups take back the streets. (See "Balancing stakeholder preferences for road use" and at the end of this entry "A 'divergent view' about camera surveillance and ticketing.")

Katie Salay from PPS alerts us to a new such action from San Francisco's Re:bar Group. From Re:bar's website:

What is RebarRe:mix. Re:make. Re:configure. Re:consider.

Rebar is a creative collective based in San Francisco. One of our principal aims is to sample and reconfigure elements of the physical and cultural landscape. Much like a DJ samples and remixes recorded sounds, Rebar's work appropriates elements of the physical/cultural world and remixes them into novel contexts. These remixes both refer to the elements' original cultural meaning(s) and simultaneously transform those meaning(s) into a new critical message.

In other words, we move stuff around.

The Rebar Group in San Francisco conducted an interesting experiment last month to show how easy and effective it is to reclaim a parking space. They created a temporary park out of a parking space on the street - they fed the parking meter, then rolled out turf, put out a bench and a tree, and then watched as people stopped to relax, read the paper, or have a chat with a stranger. Check out their website for more and a slide show of the event.



Conspiring with Rebar's John Bela and Matthew Passmore in the creation of PARK(ing) were Blaine Merker and Gregory Kellett. Still photos by Andrea Scher and Jeff Conlon.

Index Keywords: car-culture