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Parking Lot Painting (Call for venues/funding)
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- Abstract:
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To repave and repaint the surface of a small parking lot —
placing the divider lines disfunctionally throughout the lot.
The bright yellow lines would not divide car from car. Instead they would
transform the lot into unstructured space, much like a gravel lot has no divides. The lines would form a central anchor — a parking lot painting.
- Detailed Proposal:
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The gridded parking lot has become a ubiquitous part of car
culture. Whether at a Wal-Mart, a grocery store or a business, the painted parking lot is a recognizable ecosystem designed
to hurry customer from car to business expeditiously while maximizing the number of cars in the lot.
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Divided spaces are both efficient and disempowering. We must park within the lines, regardless of the size of our car. When we enter a lot, we turn into treasure hunters, looking for space. Cars often are parked on the lines, making it awkward for adjacent ones (image below right). For large lots, divider lines are essential to keep order. For small, intermittently used ones, they are unnecessary.
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This project will turn one small lot into a parking lot painting. The parking lot’s lines are rendered disfunctional as dividers and instead painted into a unified composition. The lines, recognizable in hue and size, would intersect one another in a Kenneth Martin-style composition to be designed by Boston artist Zach Keeting. The parking lot becomes the canvas, the monochromatic dividers, the paint.
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Without the usual spaces, a driver who enters the lot is forced to pause, reflect, and make a decision as to where to park the car. Without a fixed grid, the cars may be parked differently each time one enters. This is a system used at gravel parking lots where striped dividers can’t exist.
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This installation is a playful and unusual treatment suitable for a forward-thinking art institution or business. It is also ideal as a temporary installation, timed with an exhibit. The dysfunctional lines serve to remind us that the parking lot, like any environment, should not be used only as transition, but can become a destination unto itself.
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KENNETH MARTIN
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- Process:
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A parking lot is needed and will be chosen for its space, surrounding environment and appropriateness to the proprietor. Sites will be studied for their compositional potential. For instance, is the lot viewable from upper windows, hills, sidewalks or other non-standard perspectives. Once a site is chosen, a design will be made for that site. Standard crews will asphalt and then paint the surface based on tape laid down. The project can be temporary, or permanent.
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The painting will be designed by Zachary Keeting* of New Haven. He has worked in both abstract geometry in both acrylic and ink. Each site will lend itself to a custom piece.
- Contact: John Caserta
- Sources/Links:
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- More calls for ideas: