Papergirl SF - October 29th 2011

September 29, 2011 9:40 AM

Art thrown from bicycles, paperboy style. Papergirl SF is a mail-art and delivery systems art project. Art is distributed like a newspaper, rolled and bundled, and thrown to random passers-by from bicycles, paperboy style. Papergirl SF will roll out in San Francisco, October 29th.

"Papergirl was founded in Berlin by Aisha Ronniger and has been carried out once a year in the summer since 2006. It began as a response to a tightening of German graffiti laws. Papergirl SF is the San Francisco division of the original Berlin Papergirl Project. Papergirl SF seeks to bring art to people in a new, exciting and participatory way; directly and freely by bicycle."

And they are taking submissions until October 8th.

Art and bikes ...

posted by busillis (27 comments total)

We call this littering.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:41 AM on September 29, 2011 [5 favorites]

If she breaks my window I'm chasing her down the road in my bathrobe.
posted by 2bucksplus at 9:45 AM on September 29, 2011 [4 favorites]

thrown to random passers-by from bicycles, paperboy style

That's exactly how I used to deliver newspapers! Flinging stuff at strangers on the street sure saves you time when it comes to collect the monthly fee because you have no idea who to collect from!
posted by DU at 9:47 AM on September 29, 2011

I was hoping the subject matter would be a bit more challenging or provocative than what I saw in the gallery. Although, I like the idea of foisting art on people who might otherwise not look at it regularly or think of it as something you need to go pay admission to see somewhere. "Littering" is an uncharitable view of this.
posted by Horselover Phattie at 9:50 AM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Also, here's a video of them distributing the art. See how upset people get!
posted by Horselover Phattie at 9:53 AM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

We call this littering.
posted by Ironmouth at 11:41 AM on September 29

Ready to throw the book at them, eh?
posted by kitarra at 9:55 AM on September 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

Having someone fling shit at you does not fit my understanding of the word "participatory".
posted by Wolfdog at 10:12 AM on September 29, 2011 [3 favorites]

That depends on which clubs you like to hang out at.
posted by Horselover Phattie at 10:22 AM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is a great thing. Just yesterday someone threw most of Serrano's Piss Christ at me
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:26 AM on September 29, 2011 [4 favorites]

"It began as a response to a tightening of German graffiti laws."

And that is why you got hit in the back with a rolled-up drawing of Legolas today.
posted by longsleeves at 10:29 AM on September 29, 2011 [4 favorites]

I love the idea of this. Yes, it looks like it leans more toward an etsy-craftsy aesthetic and I don't see much in the gallery that moves me, but the idea of papergirls flinging art at pedestrians makes me smile.
posted by EvaDestruction at 10:34 AM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Papergirl-World (tucked in the sidebar of the German site).
posted by EvaDestruction at 10:37 AM on September 29, 2011

This form of art distribution would be much more efficient and exciting if you designed a special Gatling gun.
posted by CynicalKnight at 10:38 AM on September 29, 2011

The German Graffiti Law Effect isn't quite as snappy as Butterfly Effect, unfortunately.
posted by kmz at 10:40 AM on September 29, 2011

Paperboy style? Press 9, repeat.
posted by steef at 11:04 AM on September 29, 2011

Who's in charge of raising by fishing pole a roughly uniform mob of bees that will eventually begin chasing paper____?
posted by JoeXIII007 at 11:10 AM on September 29, 2011

Although, I like the idea of foisting art on people who might otherwise not look at it regularly or think of it as something you need to go pay admission to see somewhere.

Because when you foist things on people, they always learn to enjoy them...
posted by lesbiassparrow at 11:40 AM on September 29, 2011

Well hey, non-cynical Western MA mefites, Papergirl Northampton just extended the deadline for submissions through October 5th...

And yeah, it's not like they reject anything that gets submitted. In the past few years being downtown during the Papergirl rides I received a great big woodblock print, a nice little etching, a watercolor that looks like it was done by a 6th-grader who was really into D&D, and a "tag" scrawled in paint pen on an index card. Fun!
posted by drumcorpse at 12:35 PM on September 29, 2011

> Because when you foist things on people, they always learn to enjoy them...

Shoot, if it's good art it won't matter if they "enjoy" it because it will challenge them in some way just with a glance.
posted by Horselover Phattie at 12:36 PM on September 29, 2011

CALIFORNIA
posted by MangyCarface at 12:40 PM on September 29, 2011

CALIFORNIA
posted by MangyCarface at 12:40 PM on September 29 [+] [!]

knows how to party.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:50 PM on September 29, 2011

Horselover Phattie: "I was hoping the subject matter would be a bit more challenging or provocative than what I saw in the gallery. Although, I like the idea of foisting art on people who might otherwise not look at it regularly or think of it as something you need to go pay admission to see somewhere. "Littering" is an uncharitable view of this."


Well if the person calling it "littering" declares their statement is an Artwork then it can't be "uncharitable". It is art.
posted by 2manyusernames at 2:28 PM on September 29, 2011

I felt snarky about this. But after reflection, I decided to provide them with artwork of mine that will then be flung at random passers-by. If I were to see such flingage taking place in the context of a whimsical movie, I would tearfully approve; my reflexive hostility having art flung at me by bicycling bohemians probably stems from a lack of confidence about the flingworthiness of my own art.

Therefore, some strangers are going to get lucky, whether they like it or not.
posted by anigbrowl at 2:50 PM on September 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh hey. I made a piece (self-link, obvs) in the form of a newspaper last year, and I wasn't sure I'd have a chance to show them again before they mouldered away to nothing. So hooray, this.

Also, thank you for reminding me, MetaFilter, that posts about art here invariably yield comments only marginally less irritating than your average YouTube video.
posted by wreckingball at 4:40 PM on September 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

Will she shoot beers down a bar next? Perhaps hunt spys in a car? Maybe help a frog cross a road?
posted by GuyZero at 4:44 PM on September 29, 2011

You call these Metafilter comments art?? My five year old could make comments as good as these--on YouTube!
posted by found missing at 5:04 PM on September 29, 2011

She's wading through the crowd at the Effulgent Mussel, my favorite Joyce bar of all in the Mission, shouldering her way past swillers of beer, carefully assisting sippers of wine to the side as she strides inexorably toward me. My efforts to swim upstream to the men's room or lose myself in the cigarette garden awash with critical theory are for naught and she catches me up, hard against the lee side of the retro video game simulator cabinet. I smell artisan coriander gum as she thrusts her goggled and tattooed face into mine - it's the Papergirl, and she's growling through gritted teeth:

"I want my two dollars!"
posted by freebird at 9:55 PM on September 29, 2011