Increasingly downtown is being seen as a canvas for some unique and subtle expression of sorts. This weekend it was oil barrels. Yes, oil barrels. We were thrilled to see that someone dropped off a collection of six of these at various spots around the Monroe and Main intersection. We first thought they were new decorated trash cans. On closer look the large 50-gallon oil drums, each painstakingly decorated, were placed as a 3-D street art display (and clearly making a comment about oil dependency).
If you spotted these fleeting additions to the downtown landscape consider yourself lucky. We really had high hopes, thinking they'd stick around long enough for the beginning of the work week and the rush of single-occupancy-vehicles to the urban core. Unfortunately, they had a pretty short life-span in the clean-streets of downtown Spokane. We first viewed them Saturday morning and by Sunday PM they were all gone. Still, it's heartening to know that there is a collection of people out there who are taking the time to make downtown a little more engaging if only for a few hours.
This is really sweet.
Posted by: Mike | October 09, 2006 at 12:58 PM
I am bummed I missed these. Do you think they were associated with First Friday? A big thanks goes out to those who make Downtown a little more interesting.
Posted by: Chaz | October 09, 2006 at 10:20 PM
I can't believe people would take that much time and effort for something that was removed so quickly. Those look pretty cool although being on an oil barrel doesn't make them that attractive. And how could they have been dropped off without anyone noticing? So many questions...
Posted by: Todd | October 10, 2006 at 10:50 AM
It's not that surprising how much effort and time people will put in on a piece of street art that they know will be ephemeral, removed by authorities soon after. Because street art has two lives--one on the street, and then another on the internet where it is discussed by people like us....
Posted by: natalie | October 10, 2006 at 03:04 PM
These are fantastic! Huge kudos to whomever had a hand in making those. And using oil barrels just makes it that much more effective of a statement.
Thanks for posting these. Glad to see Spokane has a wee bit of geurilla in it.
Posted by: michelle | October 10, 2006 at 07:14 PM
Hi, I see you found the barrels. There were actually 20+ barrels at one time, and they were all permitted and zoned legally, believe or not. So technically it wasn't guerilla art. But, thanks for the nice comments, and for those of you that missed the barrels in public; Pigeon Hole Gallery will be hosting the entire lot in an exhibition starting First Friday in December. Here is a link to view one of the barrels in flat view.
http://pigeonholegallery.com/content.php?cid=101&page=13
If anyone else would like to participate in painting a barrel, email me.
Posted by: Garric Simonsen | October 11, 2006 at 10:09 PM
zoned legally for how long? how does that work if they were only there for a short while?
yes, this is me just bummed that I missed them. hmph!
Posted by: michelle | October 20, 2006 at 06:07 PM
These were zoned by the Spokane Arts Commission for 1 month. However, after 1 day, local and government officials responded demanding they be removed the following day. There was talk of anarchy and riot. FYI nothing ever happened and no one was hurt.
Peace!
Posted by: Garric | March 07, 2007 at 05:56 PM