There is a rather amazing project happening all over the world just now. Called The Outings Project, it was dreamed up by a French artist called Julien de Casabianca and it is actually a very simple concept. Basically it consists of groups of people in lots of cities around the world, going to their local art museum – such as the Tate, Museum of Modern Art, Rijksmuseum or some similar, finding a painting that they particularly like, taking a photograph of it and then getting that photo blown up and printed on paper. They then go out onto the city streets, find a bit of unpainted wall, and simply stick the photo onto the wall, using wallpaper paste.
As simple as that.
Simple though the idea is, it is having a considerable effect on the cities in which it is happening, both for those doing it, and for people who happen to wander by and come across these unlikely bits of high grade graffiti.
Here are a few taken at random from all sorts of cities to give you an idea about how this project actually looks.
Julien talks about his project in the following terms:-
‘art can revitalize cities only if citizen are directly connected, not only spectators. Outings invite everyone to join the project and do it. We started in August and so far the interest has grown exponentially. People join us every day; from Paraguay, Malaysia, Benin, Italia, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and Poland‘.
I imagine this sums it up pretty well, he also has this to say about the effect that all this unlikely art in public places has on people.
“It’s a way to discover how we can share the same urban environment with different generations and different kind of persons : when we stick, we obtain exactly the same reactions from both young and old; hip-hop teenagers to harpsichord old men. Everyone finds it beautiful… Maybe because the aesthetics in these paintings is in our common culture, without opposition of generations”.
Hi English may be slightly wobbly, but I think his meaning is perfectly clear, and I for one approve totally of what he and his “followers” are doing all around the world, and I fervently hope this idea takes off and we begin to find walls all over the place pleasingly clad with one well chosen bit of some painting or other… Should make a much more pleasing environment than regular graffiti (excepting the work of Banksy) or ads for hamburgers and women’s undergarments which is what we normally see when out and about in our cities.
To finish off with, here are a few more samples to whet your appetite.
Find out more:
If you want to find out more about this project, click on this link and you will be taken to the website of the Outings Project. Click Here.
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What do you feel about this idea? Is it something that should be encouraged or stopped as quickly as possible? Do let us know your thoughts on this topic please.
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