Another change in procedures !!!

Ok so yet again i have changed my mind , the idea is now a series of posters for my own seed bombing campaign  :

In class Tracey told me about adidas and how they were doing an ad campaign for 100% natural materials , shoes , tracksuits etc , Adidas GRUN ( green ) , heres some information on how they are using gurellia gardening and seed bombing for the campaign .

http://shapeandcolour.wordpress.com/2008/04/

green billboards made mostly from living plants and flowers:
http://shapeandcolour.wordpress.com/2008/04/

CREATE YOUR LIVING CITY

This is what ive decided im going for , i want people to see its as " we live in the city / we visit the city , we want to make it our living city " the direction ive now decided to go is a little different take on things but yeh i want people to have a say in the city , what it looks like etc , i want the city to be a giant canvas for each individual and for them to create there living city !

I think with seed bombing / Guerilla Gardening this could come about , so the question i ask is :

" If seed bombing / Guerilla Gardening is a big deal to all then why hasn't everyone heard of it ? "

As ive seed before ive searched the internet and cannot find any seed bombing /GG poster , advertisements etc
ok so some people think VANDALISM all the way . but for those people who dont and using myself as a perfect example , we wont get to hear of it , so getting it out there is a must ! I would never of heard of it if it hadnt of been for this project and ROBIN of course ( ta robin ) :) , and im soo glad now that i have , because i would love to see it become a reg thing in towns closest to me , ( i live in the sticks , so i mean you couldn't throw me without hitting a bush of some description ) .

So i propose a series of illustrations depicting a " a living city " in contrast to " Your living city "

a living city : the ordinary type of built up city with its boring look and feel ,and of course neglectfulness towards the environment and nature and beauty !!! 

Your living city : what you the people can create with the use of seed bombs / GG , how a dump can go from a dump to a beautiful community garden , were nature can be preserved and enviro can be appreciated and beauty can be admired

Im thinking , maybe illustrations with maybe photography , showing how change can happen !!!! so easily by you the people creating

" YOUR Living City " 

just something interesting .....

Guerilla art

found out about this while looking at banksy work . A form of free expression and clever creative vision ? Something , like the seed bombing that creates something beautiful and awesome by using clever creative techniques ? Or a form of Vandalism ??

some information i found on a guerilla art website about it : 

Guerilla art is the surreptitious, and often sudden, creation or installation of unauthorized public art, often with the purpose of making an overt political statement. The term is often used interchangably with "street art."
Guerilla art consists of reclaiming space and changing its dynamics with images or counter images, art that has been created anonymously and left on walls or in places such as public squares. Guerrilla art is not only spray paint and text and images. It can also encompass theater and film projections projected on walls of buildings.
Guerilla art has arisen as a small underground movement starting in the 1980s, partially as a response to the perceived takeover of public space by commercial interests, the perceived banality of many authorized public art pieces, and the frequent lack of authorized exhibition opportunities for artists.
One of the most popular forms of guerilla art is the alteration of billboards, often with the intent of creating an absurd or ironic message from the original advertising content. Such installations are often meant to be somewhat subtle.
A school of thought exists that much artistically-intended graffiti can be considered as guerilla art as well.
Stickers, stencils and poster art are increasingly influential—Robbie Conal regularly uses Los Angeles as his personal gallery space. Shepard Fairey's Obey Giant stickers can now be seen in cities across the United States. Other prominent members of the movement include the billboard liberation front, Adbusters, Bansky and the Guerilla Girls.
Although guerilla art is sometimes equated with the use of disposable media, one of the most famous pieces of guerilla art was the installation of the bronze sculpture Charging Bull by Arturo Di Modica in front of the New York Stock Exchange in December 1989. Although unauthorized, the sculpture became an immediate hit with many New Yorkers, leading to its permanent installation a few blocks away in Bowling Green plaza.Jason Sprinkle, part of Fabricators of the Attachment (FA), tied a chain to the hammering man in Seattle, WA. Another guerrilla art group, the Provos, during the 60s in Amsterdam acted out happenings where the Provos would give out thousands of white bikes. In another "performance," the Provos dressed up as Santa Claus and handing out presents that did not belong to them to children in the department store, causing the police to respond and publicy arrest a handful of Santas in front of the children.

http://www.concepttshirts.co.uk/guerilla-art.php

DAN WITZ : 

some really fun and clever works of guerilla art i found online by American artist and Guerilla artist Dan Witz , ive been a fan of his work for a while now and love to look at the really mad examples of street art he does heres some of my favourite ones below : 

all images sourced from Dan Witz:website : http://www.danwitz.com/index.php?article_id=2 

the third man : Dan Witz 

from a series , skateboarders are graffiti 

Do Not Enter : Dan Witz 

from a series "Hoodies" 

I guess there are so many different ways to look at these issues !  maybe thats what confuses me so much i think with so many ever growing thoughts and knowledge on it all my minds really bunged with which way to go with the project at the minute , i really believe that perhaps taking the seed bombing , Guerilla Gardening thing further would be interesting but which direction ? Maybe graphics , poster design advertising for the likes of these events that are held or the seed bombing / Guerilla Gardening in general , to highlight the pros and cons on both sides of the argument ? Im only thinking like this because ive looked and cant find anything online advertisement wise for it at all , sure lots of green posters but not highlighting the specific events etc ! you know branding for this type of thing ! Maybe im way of track here but im tryin to explore every avenue before i decide , i guess at this stage i would def benefit from a tutorial ! :) guidance is required !:S

some examples of the type of "GREEN" posters i found out there : ) !

Bizhan Khodabandeh

http://www.mendedarrow.com/

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjChqfSYBqlAEC-zvqHUXLDp6xmOWbxxcS617jik0buAewp8vwjH-axUr2qljK96ERh736opRlIh5bTM-dJXbyUWNxKrCXoKZUHYI4xr67qZVgS2qeaytULxxbuiUl4-uCaMry-e7d3kzdU/s1600/greenpatriot2.jpg

   

clever ! 

i like this idea well some of it , i like the way THE GREEN MILE  , to me that enforces the need for more green , miles and miles of it infact :P just my thoughts on it 

i like this ideas also as i think again it enforces the " we live in green " type of thing , trying to say san fran is green , etc clever using the city and the places in it all in green , nice idea i think , simple! 

i put this in simply because i love the sketches , really nice , clean informative sketches , 

http://www.heroturko.org/vectors/nature-vectors/112215-green-posters.html

seed bombing / banksy

okay this may seem a little far fetched but i love banksy , the work he does is clever and really kool , a way of making certain areas interesting so some people may think its vandalism but i personally this its creative and a great way of expression . I fought that there may be some sort of connection then between seed bombing and the work of banksy , well in my mind there is to streams tryin to make somewhere look interesting and better to look at ! just a thought i had while looking through banksys wall and piece book , which i loove btw ! :)

one of my favourite of banksy's , i think its so clever and really pretti :) ! 

omgomgomgomgomg

woooow , i think maybe i went a little far with this one lol , got in touch with people behind the greenaid vending machines and they got in touch , they seem like realy nice ppl and gave me great info on possibly making the machines available in the uk ! seed bombing is really begining to interest me now !

heres the rather lovely mail they sent , thanks Kim and Danny :)

Hi Michelle -
It was good to hear from you - thank you for your kind words and support!  We would love to bring the machines over to the UK - we have started to place a few over there in Europe (Austria and Italy).  Hopefully more will follow soon.  Good luck with school and your final project - cities certainly need more greenery!

Have a wonderful rest of the week.

Kim, Danny, + Commonstudio

Hi Michelle!

Thanks so much for your email and interest in the Greenaid system, I'm glad you like the idea, and we are really excited to work with you.  To get a conversation started, I've attached some more info as a pdf, please let me know if you have any questions. With your purchase or rental of a machine from us, you get everything you need to start vending, (including a full fill of 300 seedbombs, which you sell for 1 pound each in the UK).   We will also feature your location on our website and supply you with as many seedbombs as you need in the future.  Keep in mind that in addition to being an amenity for the community and an interesting conversation piece, Greenaid machines are capable of paying for themselves very quickly and can become great fund raising tools if placed in a high traffic area. 

Take a look and let us know if you have any further questions.  As you will also see, we also can provide seedbombs separately from the machines for special events, gifts, giveaways, retail sales, etc. Keep in touch, we'd love to make this happen in your area!

Thanks!

I was thinking maybe i could use this in some way in my project ??? still confused atm , but mybe the tut this week will help ! :) 

sosososomuch!

theres is tonsssss of information out there many different groups and lots of people are interested which is great , can only mean good things for the environment ! right ?

if organisations are being funded , for example GREENAID , to come up with if ideas on seed bombing techniques to further the idea of GUERILLA GARDENING  , well then does this mean that all is becoming more acceptable .

i now think this may be the way for  me to go with my project , to see if i can come up with a concept on urban growing in communities and the act of seed bombing / guerilla gardening , being part of the planting purpose , it would be a legal operation and would spread the knowledge of seed bombing and the creation of Guerilla gardens .

Guerrilla gardening

is gardening on another persons land without permission . It has grown into a form of pro-activism , seed bombing was said to be the start of the guerilla gardening movement .

There are many examples of high profile guerilla gardening that have taken place over the years :

here are a few ive found out about below :

Greenaid : 

ive already talked a little about the concepts that this organisation have came up with below : 

Greenaid is a Los Angeles based organization founded in 2010 by Daniel Phillips and Kim Karlsrud of Common Studio. The organization converts vintage gumball machines to dispense seedbombs, a combination of clay, compost and region-specific seeds. Once dispensed, seedbombs are tossed or planted in any area that may benefit from wildflowers. Greenaid partners with business owners, educators and citizens to distribute seedbomb vending machines in various communities worldwide. With region-specific seedbomb mixes, Greenaid aims to integrate and beautify rather than disrupt traditionally bland urban areas such as sidewalks and highway medians. In July 2010, Greenaid received $10,398 in funding from the Kickstarter community. This funding will be used to spread the initiative to new locations and support current operations.

Pure Genius!!

i really like the idea of this one !

One high-profile example of guerrilla gardening took place in May 1996, when about 500 activists affiliated with The Land is Ours, including the journalist George Monbiot, occupied 13 acres (53,000 m²) of derelict land belonging to the Guinness company on the banks of the River Thames in Wandsworth, South London. Their action aimed to highlight what they described as "the appalling misuse of urban land, the lack of provision of affordable housing and the deterioration of the urban environment.

A community grew up on the site called "Pure Genius!!" (named after the Guinness advertising slogan). They lived there for five and a half months before being evicted

Have på en nat

again this one really impresses me in one night this was created ! 

Later, on 1 July 1996, Have på en nat ("Garden in a night") was made by the Danish Økologiske Igangsættere ("Organic starters").

An empty piece of land in the middle of the city at Guldbergsgade in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, Denmark, was transformed into a garden in a single night. About 1000 people took part in the project.

Kew Bridge Eco Village, London, England

In July 2009 land rights activists moved on to a derelict piece of land near Kew Gardens in West London. Kew Bridge Eco Village is a small community of squatters who have grown vegetables and built basic wooden dwellings on the land.

Kew Bridge Eco Village

which was evicted in 2010

SEEDBOMBLEGALLY

im still really stumped even after all this info , i really want to use the idea of seed bombing / guerilla gardening , but i cant seem to think of a way how !!! :O

its seen as an illegal act right ?  although one that on one hand would create beauty out of something not that pretty , but on reading there are reasons against , ! 

So im pretti stuck ! 

I was thinking ok , put myself in the shoes of an avid seed bomber , it being something that i love to do and that i believe in , if i incorporated the areas ( urbangrowers )  concept that ive been working on well maybe the seed bombing could become more acceptable to all even legal , even an event a customary thing , where the areas involved have the right to seed bomb the plot of land that is rightfully theres ?? ok maybe there wouldnt be enough of a thrill for certain people , but it could be an option ! 

i think i may need to sleep on it to see if the concepts any clearer in the morning ! :) 

THINK

MICHELLE

THINK!

:O 

http://thecommonstudio.com/index.php?/project/greenaid/

   "Greenaid Fosters Johnny Appleseeds for the 21st-Century" 

-FastCompany.com

I found this design concept by http://thecommonstudio.com/index.php?/project/greenaid/

i thinks its a great idea , really clever 

UtopiaUtopiaUtopiaUtopiaUtopia

I recently purchased this after I heard so many references to this book in alot of classic dramas I watch ! 

“A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing.”

Oscar Wilde

i love some of the descriptions in this book of Thomas moore's ideal island , the way the people live the ideal societies i love it it makes you wonder and kinda makes you fink what exactly are the limitations ???? 

ON

WITH

THE

THOUGHTS

MICHELLE 

:) 

THEARTOFSEEDBOMBING

Andrew Crawford-White




again i went researching away to find another way to attack my idea , and im not sure how but i came across Andrew Crawford White , an artist and seed bomber ! :) , The way Andrew uses his artistic talents to observe the way that people interact with the landscape and environment around them is ace , creating unreal sculptures , or creating paintings of plants in awkward locations and getting people , communities to get together and distr plants all around not not to mention his creative seed bombs which i found some images of on his sight : 






i love these seed bombs , they've all been made in the seed bombing workshops that i think are great ideas :

seed bombin : ) 

i found theses really nice examples of his sculpture for planting i fought id show you as i really like :) : 

  

URBANORGANICGARDENERS

MIKE LIEBERMAN

http://www.urbanorganicgardener.com/mike-lieberman/

i found a blog online by Brooklyn based urban organic gardener Mike Lieberman :

he grows his own fruit and veg , small scale on his apartment balcony his blog is great as he gives you alot of information and insight into the food we eat facts about food and sustaining it as a resource etc its a great blog which ties in alot with my project as i want to find away that everyone can work together to create a environmental friendly , beneficial world for all , sustainable food source is the way to go ! :)

   
some pics of Mikes work , all sourced from his blog  :
http://www.urbanorganicgardener.com/my-urban-gardens/

seeds seeds seeds

ive been tryin ti think of ways i can use the information ive now know on seed bombing , to tie in with original idea of the urban growers for my towns and city idea . I researched alot into the legal issues of seed bombing and wether of not you could get into an immense about of trouble for doing it .

http://www.good.is/post/ask-a-lawyer-will-seed-bombing-get-you-busted/

heres an article i found on the web where a real attorney was asked what exactly would happen if you were to get caught !

In this new series, we seek (nonbinding, fully disclaimed) legal opinions from practicing lawyer Kenny Ching on matters relating to the world of GOOD. Do you have a question? Leave a comment below or tweet@GOOD with hashtag "goodlawyer." 

So you want to wage peace and seed bomb that abandoned, litter-laden flowerbed on Central Boulevard. But in a disheartening moment of pragmatism, you wonder, "What will happen when the status quo’s lawyers get their hands on me?"

You could go to jail: If property is enclosed so as to exclude intruders, by knowingly and without permission entering, you may be committing criminal trespass. Hopping a fence counts, but so does throwing your seed bomb into someone’s yard, even if you don’t set foot there yourself.

Fortunately, criminal trespass is generally a misdemeanor, not a felony. So even if you get convicted, you can still vote Nader next election or move to Canada if Jeb Bush becomes President.

You could get sued: By voluntarily and intentionally entering another’s property without permission (either with your body or with a thing, like a seed bomb), you could be found civilly liable. An argument on your behalf: your garden isn’t hurting anything, so there would be no monetary damages. But, you might have to pay for the bulldozer that razes the trees you planted.

Also, you might get sued, not for cash, but to get a court order prohibiting you from further trespassing. If you violate a court order, that’s called contempt, and jail is a real possibility.

You could get roughed up: Say a property owner catches you picking cigarette butts out of her yard without permission. She says “get,” but you stay. She can now use reasonable force to eject you from her property. She should use as little force as necessary such as "gently laying hands upon you" (which sounds pleasant enough until you realize it’s Old English for "bum rush").  She shouldn’t severely kick you unless nothing less will do; under almost no circumstances should she kill you.

You could become the new property owner!: Counterintuitively, some guerilla gardening activities (most likely something beyond seed bombing) could be a step toward joining the landed gentry. Adverse possession or its cousin, prescriptive easement, may allow you to become the garden’s new owner. This lottery ticket of legal doctrines requires 1.) you must use the land as if you were its actual owner, and gardening it probably counts; 2.) your gardening must be visible for all to see—hoeing in secret won’t do; 3.) you must exclude the true owner, so if you lay down grass, the owner can’t use it for lawn bowling; 4.) your use has to be "adverse" to the true owner—if he gives you permission to be there, you’re not adversely possessing, you’re doing yard work for free; and 5.) you must use the property continuously for a time period prescribed by statute, usually five to 10 years.

It’s a long shot, but if you meet the criteria, the property is yours. Then we’ll see how you like it when long-haired hippies start taking shortcuts across your yard.

Correction: A sentence in this story used to read "Counterintuitively, your illegal activities could be a step toward joining the landed gentry." It was changed because it inaccurately suggested that seed bombing alone could lead to adverse possession. 

It's Seeds Time!

Seed Bombing ?? double Dutch to me well until today anyway . I found out so much about this type of thing and cant believe that something that has become so well known and wide spread since it first began in the 70s  is still something which alot of people haven't heard of . 


Seed Bombing : 
 is a technique of introducing vegetation to land by throwing or dropping compressed clods of soil containing live vegetation. Often, seed bombing projects are done with arid or off-limits (for example, privately-owned) land.


its also known as " seed grenade " , it was first used by  Liz Christy in 1973 when she started the "Green Guerrillas". The first seed grenades were made from condoms filled with local wildflower seeds, water and fertilizer. They were tossed over fences onto empty lots in New York City in order to make the neighborhoods look better. It was the start of the guerrilla gardening movement.


   http://www.lizchristygarden.org/


In 1973 a local resident named Liz Christy and a group of gardening activists known as the Green Guerillas were planting window boxes, vacant lots with ‘seed bombs’ and tree pits in the area. They saw the large rubble-strewn lot as a potential garden and in December went to the City to find a way to gain official use of the land. Volunteers hauled the garbage and rubble out, spread donated topsoil, installed a fence and began planting.
All pictures sourced from :  http://www.lizchristygarden.org/lcbh_files/historicphoto.htm


pictures below are of the construction of the first guerilla garden in new york , 

New garden photographs : 

http://www.lizchristygarden.org/lcbh_files/newphotos-1.htm

MAKE YOUR OWN SEED BOMBERS :) ! 

a short vid i found on youtube , on her to make your own seed bombers : there really simple and look fun to make ! possible seed bomber i am ????? :) 

The beginning of a project , the best bit ?

LIVING CITY ! 


oh dear god ! :S

Eco friendly ; was what I was first thinking , WE NEED MORE GREEN !!  or rather they do cities / towns i mean , i have plenty of it wer i hail from believe me! i was thinking sustainability - food popped into my mind , why not in these environments do people not grow their own ??? i mean take for example small towns with lots of housing estates in close proximity to one another , what they need is a URBANGROWER : a small piece of plush land to grow fruit and veg etc , with the right facilities on these plots of land this could well become possible : take for example 2 r 3 estates being in charge of their own URBANGROWER working together to provide this amenity for the areas : it would create so much good for the enviroment , the towns / cities the world in general , as it would provide : 
                 jOBS
                 Help the areas economy 
                 Create Good Community Relations

                 Decrease Fuel Emissions (buying from foreign                      countries would decrease    

                 Land Development 
                 Get back to Nature
                 Create revenue for the areas involved 
im sure there are many other good things to come out of a venture like this i guess futher research is needed but pheww its a start :) !


Above i went a little nuts on the whole green thing lol , but its effective !


below is a start in my concept development :) !

Every Concept Helps!

All this work below was for a graphic based project we did few months back at uni . I was asked to design Visuals for a medical based Application , for a paramedics use , an app to make their jobs easier . 

My app was called step step paramedic procedure app

SSPPA

(title wasn't exactly life altering but mm ) 

    




FINAL DESIGN SOLUTION : 

Adobe photoshop and illustrator were used on the visuals after extensive concept sketching and development :