Poetic Potholes
WORD OF MOUTH
from work. He’s now saving other cyclists from the same fate by turning the craggy vacuums on his route into miniature gardens (pictured, below) that are much more visible. The first lasted just two hours before it was destroyed by road traffic, but another was avoided for a full three weeks. Steve even includes props such as chairs to emphasise his small wonders and the 33-year-old’s website – thepotholegardener.com – had 25,000 hits in its first month. But aside from just highlighting the treacherous voids, there is the serious problem of funding road repairs to attend to. One recession-hit village near Leipzig in East Germany has come up with a unique solution by auctioning off its road repairs. For a mere €50, sponsors can pay for a pothole to be tarred over and permanently tagged with their name and optional inscription – more than 100 have been snapped up already. So for anyone who enjoys acting like they own the roads, this season’s hottest trend is to pick a pothole and do it in style.
PHOTO © REX, ALAMY
VARIOUS As Europe’s roads crack under the pressure of some of the most extreme weather this continent has ever seen, potholes are having a moment. Thanks to the work of street artists, guerrilla gardeners and savvy councillors, these hazardous urban pockmarks are being transformed into significant sites from London to Berlin and beyond. When married creatives Davide Luciano and Claudia Ficca careered into a sizeable crater that killed their car suspension, mypotholes.com was born. The couple use clever photography to turn the scourge into a celebration, creating unlikely scenes that give the potholes a new life and then posting photos of the activities on their site. Europe’s asphalt holes are set to host tableaus similar to those they’ve already created in other major cities – from a baptism, to washday, and even a slice of Alice in Wonderland. In London, green-fingered cyclist Steve Wheen also had an epiphany after falling foul of a pothole on his way home
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14/06/2010 09:39