Friday, December 14, 2012

Kater Street
Philly

"She's in there somewhere"

Thanks ODW!
South 10th Street and League Street
Philly / Bella Vista

Birds' nests are ephemeral, too!
Christian Street and South 9th Street
Sabrina's Cafe
Philly / Bella Vista

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Broadway / Lafeyette subway station
Manhattan

Love this font, reminds me of the 1980s.

DOJO women's bathroom
West Fourth St and University Place
Manhattan

DOJO women's bathroom
West Fourth St and University Place
Manhattan

Broadway, near East Houston St
Manhattan

Pretty unusual to see stickers on a manhole cover, and deliciously Satanic at that, in the red glow of night.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Federal & South 10th Street
South Philly / Italian Market


 
South Philly / Italian Market 
Washington Ave & South 10th St
South Philly / Italian Market




Part of this blog project is to think about the various types of ephemera that inhabit city streets, their intended purpose and what they actually do once posted. 

A major category of ephemera is the "missing" sign - here, a labor union makes stickers invoking missing union leader Jimmy Hoffa, or an image of the artist Basquiat (last post), who is a major inspiration for many street artists. 

I've been seeing Missing Pets posters around South Philly - there is one for a horse, a pig, and a spider. They're obviously (?) fake, but are so intentional about using this trope of the public missing poster..

One could also think about the posters that populated streets of lower Manhattan after 9-11, with images and descriptions of people who went missing after the terrorist attack. Since many of these people were presumed dead, the purpose of missing posters was complicated, and symbolic - a means of taking up space, memorializing while unable or unwilling to admit the unthinkable reality of their vanishing. 



Saturday, December 8, 2012