“dress” the frog
Thinking on the idea of displace an object in a new placement that can bring social responses or insights. I choose to dress a public –frog- fountain with a hat and bow tie. My inspiration comes from an old children’s story called Rin Rin the Tadpole in which the character is depicted as an elegant aristocratic.
The Rin Rin Frog is a character known by children and adults in Colombia, but in Germany, where is located this fountain the first association will be surely be The Frog King, and that was precisely the aim of the displacement, to approach this fountain in a different way and have a conversation with passersby about context, childhood and cultural associations.
Once I started to “dress” the frog, pedestrians began to ask me why a hat instead of a crown, describe and told them the story the social and cultural exchange was interesting: identity, collective memory and heritage were part of the conversations. Others walked near without noticing, and it was a pity that despite the fountain is located near a school was “invisible” to students.
This fountain is a permanent object located in public space, cleaning and protected by the city and despite that is not a memorial, can be dressed as one –a vernacular memorial–. So in this case, is me acting like Simon Rodia, creating my own non-commissioned monument. A fountain is a constant reminder of a formerly meeting point or as social space; this folk art intervention can disrupt the everyday landscape with friendly ephemeral public art.