OWS and Urbanism (paging James Lileks!)
You may see the "Occupy X" encampments as ramshackle nuisances of temporary shelter and unhygienic disorder. But the Washington Post sees "a vibrant brand of urbanism", worthy of contemplation, approval, and comparisons with random installations in modern art museums.
Yes, I double-checked. It's not a piece from The Onion.
Some deep thoughts from the article:
“There is a self-consciousness to camping,” says [author Charley] Hailey. “It is a truly applied aesthetics.”
That self-expression makes McPherson Square a dynamic study in improvisation and adaptation. Signage, made mostly with recycled cardboard and pizza boxes, is everywhere, creating a cacophony of anti-capitalist messages that resists the bullet-point thinking of commercial and organizational culture.
Practical adaptations to living outdoors take on artistic resonance. To make it easier to fill water jugs, someone has created an elegant system of two bamboo sluices that channel water from a drinking fountain. No one would take credit for this small “hack” of standard urban furniture. But that refusal of authorship is also part of the Occupy value system.
The idea that Hoovervilles plus iPhones make for a dynamic rejuvenation of urban cores is, to put it mildly, ridiculous. I wonder how their relaxed approach to land allocation meshes with their demands for massive government intervention to solve social problems.
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Comments:
Re: OWS and Urbanism (paging James Lileks!)
You are KIDDING me. That bamboo sluiced water fountain is exactly the same one I pictured in my post yesterday. You know, the one that had a sign saying "Please! Do not spit in the water fountain!"
Can you even imagine how these same reporters would cover a Tea Party encampment, if such a thing existed?
Apr '11
Re: OWS and Urbanism (paging James Lileks!)
OWS is just like "Modern Art"; ugly and incomprehensible. Got it.
Aug '10
Re: OWS and Urbanism (paging James Lileks!)
Oh, I dunno. In a way the bamboo sluices are oddly comforting. Reminds me of chimps using straws as tools to gather ants from anthills.
At least the OWSers are displaying some signs of primate intelligence.
Aug '10
Re: OWS and Urbanism (paging James Lileks!)
As someone who claims MacGyver as a role model, I reject that fountain rig as an "elegant" solution. The WaPo used a more flattering angle for its photo... conveniently hiding the Do Not Spit sign:
There is a darned good reason water fountains all have the same design: jetting water into the air avoids running drinking water over externally exposed surfaces. The catch bowl is exposed, but you don't drink water from its surface. The only point where external contaminants or buildup can occur is the small nozzle, which is usually shielded with stainless steel.
An open sluice, on the other hand, collects dirt, insects, spit, and particulates for your water to pick up as it runs over it. More surface area equals more chance for contamination. That bamboo trench is a sanitary disaster waiting to happen.
Any intelligent hacker with a multitool would have made one spigot rotate outward to ease container filling. Wooden sluices are a bad idea, not "art".
Re: OWS and Urbanism (paging James Lileks!)
Hooverville + iPhone = Obamaville
Dec '10
Re: OWS and Urbanism (paging James Lileks!)
Gack. I just read the article. What a mess of post-modern deconstructionist drivel. Or should I say, "drool," staying with the unhygienic bamboo sluice theme?
Like this last bit..
Oh hO! We love it for its adjacency, do we? Too bad the internets don't provide smellivision, so we could experience this "art" installation with all our senses!
I'm guessing the reporter either sent a photographer to collect the images, or enjoyed the experience from behind a gas mask!
Dec '10
Re: OWS and Urbanism (paging James Lileks!)
I wonder if it occured to Mr. Hailey that the reason these applied aethetes can have their cacophony of anti-capitalist messages is that they are surrounded by a thoroughly capitalist support system.
Sheesh! What a gas bag!
Re: OWS and Urbanism (paging James Lileks!)
I went to the Occupy encampment by my office a few days ago. The squalor and mess obscured any ingenuity, and no one took authorship for it, either.
There was a large whiteboard with the minutes from a previous meeting on gender dynamics in the encampment. Several concerned the ethics and expectations of "Cuddle-puddles." The word gave me instant heebies, and I really didn't want to know what it was. But google we must for a better Ricochet: here's the wikipedia entry. And I'm supposed to take economic advice from these people. Cuddle-puddle. I'm surprised the OWS manifestos don't demand subsidized nooks and blankies.
Re: OWS and Urbanism (paging James Lileks!)
Look at the picture in the post. Ingenuity? Genius? And they can't pick up their own garbage? In L.A. they've ruined open parkland, something the Lefties fought so hard to get. It's going to end up costing already broke cities millions. When someone going to grow some peanuts and open the hydrants on these people?