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Oct

Signs of the Time

by Meredith Mullins on October 24, 2013

Painted man holding up street marker, artistic expression by a street artist (Image © Jerry Fielder)

It’s a tough job, but someone has to hold up those street signs.
Photo © Jerry Fielder

Artistic Expression Takes to the Streets

Daily life is filled with “Oh, I See” Moments. You just have to look around.  What you often stumble upon is spontaneous artistic expression—offered to make a day in the streets just a little bit more interesting.

Artists of the street make art for themselves, but they also hope that someone else will connect with what they do and be surprised or amused or moved by the unexpected.

Creature peering out from wall, artistic expression by a street artist. (Image © Jerry Fielder)

When you least expect it, a bearded man-sheep appears.
Photo © Jerry Fielder

Street artists add, augment, or interact with a set or scene, whether it’s a wall or a sign or a window. They mark the territory as their own with some piece of themselves, their own vision of what needs to be there—to make a passerby smile or look at something in a completely different way. Their imagination takes hold of a space and fills in the rest of the story.

No Entry Sign, just waiting for artistic expression from a street artist.

The European No Entry sign—just waiting for a flight of imagination

Looking for Signs

How many different ways can you alter the straight white bar of the European “No Entry” sign? It begs for an artistic interaction. And so the stealthy sign stencilers take over.

Man carrying bar on No Entry sign, artistic expression from a street artist (Image © Meredith Mullins)

A burden of dreams
© Meredith Mullins

 

Guillotine on the No Entry sign, artistic expression by a street artist (Image © Sheila Clementson)

No Entry the French way
© Sheila Clementson

Other signs, too, bring out the desire to express, in urban or country settings (more time to work in those desolate stretches of road).

Eiffel tower turn sign, artistic expression by a street artist (Image © Sherry Long)

An all-in-one tourist turn sign
© Sheron Long

Floating cow sign, artistic expression by a country street artist (Image © Sheila Clementson)

Street artists become “open road” artists when space becomes vast
© Sheila Clementson

Some signs foretell a scary future, especially as gnarled trees begin to swallow up a neighborhood.

Street sign eaten by tree, artistic expression by nature (Image © Sheila Clementson)

What will be eaten next by this hungry tree?
© Sheila Clementson

And for some artistic expression, it may be best to just keep on walking.

Stop and go sign at crosswalk, artistic expression by a street artist (Image © Sherry Long)

Should we stop and wonder . . . or keep moving, eyes on the road?
© Sheron Long

The random street art in these photos is only a hint of the realm of spontaneous creativity. It makes us stop and smile or pause to admire.

Boxer on wall, artistic expression by a street artist (Photo © Jerry Fielder)

Which layer is transforming into which?
Photo © Jerry Fielder

Most of all, it brightens up our day and gives us reason to really look more closely at the world around us. Carpe diem.

Life is wonderful, artistic expression by a street artist (Photo © Jerry Fielder)

Life is wonderful.
Photo © Jerry Fielder

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