In 2005, a group of five Detroit artists decided to use paint to demolish the city’s buildings in disrepair. As they explained, “The artistic move is simple, cover the front in Tiggeriffic Orange – a color from the Mickey Mouse series, easily purchased from Home Depot. Every board, every door, every window, is caked in Tiggeriffic Orange. We paint the facades of abandoned houses whose most striking feature are their derelict appearance.” The collective sought to remedy the problem that these abandoned homes presented – not just as an eyesore, but a locus for crime. By painting the houses in a bright orange, they become highlighted in such a way that the city is forced to take them down. Interestingly enough, the group’s positive motives are lost on the city’s authority that claim that the collective is merely vandalizing and performing criminal acts in their actions. In fact, the participating artists adopted pseudonyms to evade persecution. However, this does not prevent them from encouraging others to partake in similar actions: “These buildings aren’t scenery. Don’t look through them…Pick up a roller.”
Featured image by Notorious4life [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons
Quote Source: http://www.thedetroiter.com/nov05/disneydemolition.php