Artist Decorates Abandoned Bike, Gets Fined
Toronto artist Caroline Macfarlane found a rusted bicycle that had been locked to a bike rack for a very long time. She decided to make it into art, painting the whole bike neon pink and adding a basket of flowers. The city responded by fining her.
The artist writes that the piece was instantly very popular, and got lots of attention. Whenever she was working on it, people would come up and comment, and even the local police were approving. And then:
"Yesterday, I arrived to the gallery with flowers, ready to plant them in the basket, only to find a notice from the city stapled to our neon bike. It turns out it is illegal to store bicycles on public property, and that we have seven days to remove it before we are fined and it is taken away to be destroyed. The funny thing is that this bike has been sitting in the same place for years, unnoticed by the city. However, once it is brightened and made beautiful, it's got to go."
Published on Thursday, June 2, 2011 in
- Comparing the Differences in Property Taxes Around the United States
- As Big Box Retailers Fade, New Uses Are Springing Up
- Census Data Reveals 2016 Population Winners and Losers
- A Change of Heart by Secretary Chao on California's Oldest Commuter Rail Line
- Dan Savage: Doing Something Real About Gentrification and Displacement
- Back to the Suburbs: Most Metropolitan Are Getting Less Dense
- As a Driverless Future Dawns, Should We Still Build Parking?
- The Sky's the Limit for Washington, D.C.-Area High Rises
- A Scathing Critique of Elon Musk's Big Tunneling Idea
- The 'City Design Project' Aims to Make Atlanta an Intentional City
- A New Mall in Texas Counts on Customers from Mexico
- Gas Taxes Advance in New Mexico and Wisconsin in May
- Santa Monica Proposing Balanced Approach With Downtown Plan
- Detroit Making its Streets 'Sticky'
- David Beckham's Big Idea: A New Soccer Stadium in Miami, With Zero Parking Spaces
- Roanoke Launches a New Bikeshare System
- Seattle Kicks the Tires on the Seattle Center Again
- Residential Developments to Supplement New Detroit Hockey Arena
- Study: Ignorance of the Law Leads to Road Rage Toward Cyclists
- Atlanta Commits to 100 Percent Renewable Energy by 2035
