street treats...
Watching me zig and zag as I try to drive along my street, you would be forgiven for thinking a bee had driven in my window. But no, I am merely trying to avoid plunging down the increasing number of potholes that traverse the entire length of the road.
Yes the council attempt to fill them every now and then but they only seem to last about 5 minutes before they are shoogled loose like giant fillings causing yet more problems.
Oh how much brighter my driving life would be if JIm Bachor lived nearby instead of across the ocean in the windy city of Chicago.
Chicago is riddled with potholes and the council have no policy to repair them, so guerilla artist Jim took things into his own hands in a wonderful and imaginative way.
He fills the potholes with unique mosaic artworks.
He started last year with flowers before moving onto ice cream treat this Spring.
Inspired by ancient history and art, Bachor considers his work as the mark he is going to leave in the world. He hand-cuts thousands of small pieces of Italian glass and marble to create these works that constitute a playful demonstration as a protest against the disinterest of the town’s council.
Each piece takes about ten hourse for the concrete to set hard so he places cones around them to protect them from the traffic...
“Using the same materials, tools and methods of the archaic craftsmen, I create mosaics that speak of modern things in an ancient voice. My work locks into mortar unexpected concepts drawn from the present,” he writes about his work.
He creates the mosaics at his home, using coloured marble and glass - materials which can be preserved for thousands of years and then glues the marble and glass to a cheesecloth before filling the pothole with wet concrete on site and setting the art into the cavity.
Hot water is then poured over the artwork to loosen off the cheesecloth, leaving the art in the concrete with only a couple of cones to protect it from oncoming traffic while it dries.
But the artist, who says people are now starting to recognise him in public, always returns to the scene eight hours after the installation to photograph the final product.
I don't know about you but driving over a big ice cream popsicle would certainly put a big smile on my face...
Queen Marie