Inspired by an irritating work of public art funded by the San Francisco Art Commission and placed along advertisements on municipal buses, I’m thinking this site might be a good place to launch a response to bad ad art, particularly misguided PR campaigns that intend to warm the public in a way that only disturbs the intended audience.
I’ll post images of the initial art below. Essentially, they are simple portraits of Muni drivers with an anecdote from their career. My favorite is Vawanda, who tells the story of an attempted bus-jacking. Just what I want to read while riding.
I’m thinking it would be fun to make pieces in response, printed to blend with the originals, but taking the simply upsetting stories to a new level of horror, which I would slip into place on buses all over the city. Anybody want to help?
“After a particularly long night at the Lusty Lady and still a bit “UI,” I picked up my first passengers of the day. They seemed irritated as I veered from the standard route, but a couple of hard stomps on the brake pedal let them know who was in charge. They need to understand that when Jimmy The Tooth says he’ll only be on the corner of 6th and Market for another ten minutes, you need to be willing to adapt. I should have known the brakes would go out on me again, but the retread tires shredding was a real surprise. I can’t say that was the last time I mixed Schedule II controlled substances with alcohol on the job, but it certainly was the most interesting. -Bob, MUNI Operator since 1991″
From: http://www.helenakeeffe.com/archives/000046.html
I LOVE THIS IDEA! I hate those signs so much. They make the muni drivers sound like morons.
My quote from Bob is just a jumping off point. You are all encouraged to write your own and post them here!