Plastic Bag Street Art

This video is about Joshua Allen Harris, a street artist, who cuts and tapes old trash bags and shopping bags together and proceeds to tape them to subway vents. When a train passes by underground, air is pushed upward to the street and the bags inflate into whatever shape he has designed whether it be a bear or a centaur. After the train passes, the bags slowly fall to the ground and appear to be trash again. I find this method of artistry is looked down upon by conventional artist lovers as a crude expression of thought that isn’t on the same level as more orthodox art. This methodology, though, speaks to city life directly. Large cities are often referred to as concrete jungles and when the city is bustling (when the train goes by) the animals spring foreword with life to greet them and as soon as the train leaves, they die again. They are composed of material that is scattered throughout the streets which makes them a literal part of the city they inhabit. Street artists put their art out free for the public, they almost never write their name on their art, and they tend to use materials they find around them. I see this as the evolution of art because it as we become more of a “global village” art is no longer locked inside a museum but is coming to life in the very streets we walk.