Asphalt art

November 17, 2005 8:59 AM

Asphalt mosaics:Forget spraypaint, a DIY to a more permanent form of public art.
posted by edgeways (15 comments total)

This is really, really cool.
posted by Plutor at 9:09 AM on November 17, 2005

thanks, edgeways, I was just wondering what the hell I was going to after Rome finished its season.
posted by Busithoth at 9:10 AM on November 17, 2005

TOYNBEE IDEA
IN MOVIE 2001
RESURRECT DEAD
ON PLANET JUPITER
posted by Ogre Lawless at 9:34 AM on November 17, 2005

Wow. I always wondered how the Toynbee messages were made. Thanks, edgeways.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:34 AM on November 17, 2005

As said Plutor, very, very cool!
posted by Turtles all the way down at 9:37 AM on November 17, 2005

Perhaps tangentally, but there has been a minorly big fuss in Boston about some intricately designed artsy-crosswalks being set by the city.

"The crosswalks are made from a form of plastic that is melted and poured onto the street, where it bonds with the asphalt. The designs can be imprinted to mimic brick or other natural stones, and the material is available in different colors."

But no subversive messages are in them, that I know of...
posted by tpl1212 at 9:49 AM on November 17, 2005

tpl1212: I've seen that style of crosswalk in NYC too. I think there's at least one near the western end of Canal Street -- actually, going across one of the cross streets, near the A/C/E station. I wondered what they were made out of.

Interesting medium, but the faux-brick designs can look pretty cheesy. They'd be better off using patterns that aren't trying (and failing) to look like some other material.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 10:01 AM on November 17, 2005

From the link - Like glass, asphalt appears to be a solid but is actually a liquid.

Not exactly accurate (glass is an amorphous solid), but still cool.

Unless the designs are obnoxious. I'm not particularly fond of vandals.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 10:17 AM on November 17, 2005

Saw this on Make:Blog the other day. Haven't tried it yet, but definitely plan to.
posted by shoepal at 10:45 AM on November 17, 2005

The crosswalks can also be outfitted with special logos or designs, which has some city officials thinking about using the space for advertising

Well of course.
posted by Ynoxas at 10:53 AM on November 17, 2005

The Toynbee mosaics came up here before. (I wasn't a MeFite yet so I posted about it on my own site). This obviously isn't a double post but I thought people might be interested in checking out the old thread.
posted by Songdog at 11:33 AM on November 17, 2005

I wonder if I can keep this in mind for the six months it's going to take for the ashphalt around here to dethaw.
posted by Mitheral at 11:50 AM on November 17, 2005

The "how to make a bicycle into a record player" link is much, much better.
posted by fixedgear at 1:35 PM on November 17, 2005

It seems that all the articles on this site are stolen from Crimethinc's book "recipes for disaster." -- an anarchist how to manual.

If you like this stuff, you'll love the book.
posted by bigmusic at 6:25 PM on November 17, 2005

Actually not all of the projects are from recipes. But most are.
posted by bigmusic at 6:27 PM on November 17, 2005