Tearable Puns and Bad Advice

Kay-T and I ventured out again yesterday, and had a blast hiding bad advice life hacks in plain sight and posting tearable puns up around town.

The goal with the Bad Advice was to blend in. We're not sure how long they will last or even how many people will see them, as people don't often pay too much attention to alarm stickers.

A friend on FB posted a photo of Tearable Puns and I felt compelled to copy the idea. I used some of the puns I saw on the original post, and added a few extra of my own. My favorite one? Well I'm glad you asked. "When the cannibal came late to dinner, they gave her the cold shoulder." 

Kay-T being mysterious.

At the Farmer's Market

We traipsed around town posting like crazy. One crotchety lady read a Life Hack and didn't think it was very funny. That made us sad, because they really are funny. It kinda took the wind out of our sails for a bit, so we had lunch at the Sardine Can. 

Then there was MUCH joy when we saw that people had actually tore off some of the Tearable Puns! 

And for your reading pleasure, here are the templates that you can print out and post around YOUR town! Spread the joy!  

Update: I can't quite get Google Docs to show all the formatting, so uhm.... Sorry.  :( I'll try again from another computer in a couple days. Here are a few examples to sate your curiosity.

Sidewalk Chalk Paint

G.A.G strikes again! We mixed non-toxic washable paint, corn starch, and water to make our 'paint'. 

It was an overcast day with 40% chance of rain. We used paintbrushes, rollers, and sponges to apply the washable paint. 

We learned a lot about what colors worked best, how much cornstarch to use, and tools we should bring next time. 

We realized that to 

make a big impact, 

we'll need 

a LOT more 

paint, supplies, 

and people.  

As usual, the best part was watching people's reactions, answering their questions, and...

getting dirty. 

It did end up raining, and all our work was washed away within hours. It was gratifying to see that the paint did, indeed, wash away (I tested it on the sidewalk in front of my house beforehand, but still). We felt fine about it because we learned so much about how to make it better next time - this was the practice session. 

Update

Most of the 150 flyers we posted downtown were removed. Even the ones we properly placed on the public bulletin boards for that purpose. But there are still a few left. 

I'm so curious about which words people chose and why. 

After long silence...

Our mission? 

To post as many of these as we could (before getting bored, running out of posters, or in this case, growing too hungry) around downtown Vallejo:

Here is the oh-so-mysterious  Kay-T helping with the prep work.

Everyone's fingers got sore from cutting except for Kay-T, who was a trooper and kept on keepin' on.

See? An aura of mystery envelopes her like the arms of a lover, wherever she goes. 

Almost immediately after leaving the waterfront, two women exclaimed over the poster Kay-T had just taped up, "This is so neat, thank you!" 

Very gratifying for us both. 

A woman watched me work on this building as she was getting her baby out of the car and into a stroller. She told me that after watching me her curiosity was stirred. When she read the poster, she said, "Oh. Now I have to choose one." 

Later, we saw that she had selected the word Love. 

A man walked by us several times during our escapades. He said that the loved the project, that it was cool, and also that he was an artist who lived in the building we had just covered in posters. 

Also gratifying, as he wasn't upset AND he enjoyed our work. 

A long vacant building.

And my killer cruiser.

The best part of the whole project? Heading back to home base and seeing that people had indeed, been taking emotions. It was very interesting to see which had been taken, to wonder wether they were needed or destroyed, and why. 

We already have the next project planned, so stay tuned. 

Hole in the wall.

Well over six months ago, somebody went straight ahead at a T-juncture and plowed into a wall. Naked and twisted rebar hung a hole about six feet tall by eight feet wide. I drive by this eyesore twice a day to and from work and I've been thinking how ugly it is. I thought about trying to weave some strips of material through it but wasn't thrilled with the idea. I kept it on the back burner until I came across a freecycle ad for free wire hangers.

I used the hangers, some pliers, and lots of rough language to make flower frames.

Then I cut up rectangles of fabric that I got from the free section on Craigslist and tied them onto the frames.

I used some strips of fabric all balled up to make the reproductive center of the flower. And Wyatt was helping.

I made two but it was a few days before I had time to install them.

And here they are.

I thought they looked too few, so I went home and made two more of different fabrics, but then it started raining. I waited for a break in the the weather. When I got back down there, there had just been a car accident and I didn't think it would be smart to install public art when there was fairly good chance the police would be arriving momentarily. I'll just have to try another day.

Update: I ended up installing five flowers but never got a good picture of them. I greatly enjoyed driving past it every day for several months before the hole was repaired. 

Moss Graffiti & inspiration

I don't remember what it was that I was looking for at the time, but I came across this Instructables.com tutorial, but it was one that has since been stuck in the back of my mind. I am no where near as knowledgeable in gardening, so to attempt this without any background would only be my demise.

Since we have a gardener in the house, perhaps this could inspire us to be even more eco-friendly while creating art and a general idea to the public that art does not need to be in the form of permanent and sometimes destructive graffiti. Sure, it'd still be "your mothers graffiti", but at least we know we can do about it in such a way that it can be enjoyed, easily removed, and with minimal damage....


Moss Graffiti

Didn't realize it, but there are a group of Guerrilla Girls in NY who use their energy into promoting feminist issues. I like how they remain anonymous in by shielding themselves in gorilla masks. I don't know how cool I'd be about carrying about my bees-nees in a mask like that. They can definitely be looked upon as model for trying to group and figure our methods to our madness...

I need to finish up, but in regards to creating seed bombs, they have seed pills.... probably the most easiest and more effective method next to seed bombs as they melt and release; whereas the seed bombs may have a difficult time germinating because of the clay, which would require lots of water to break down... your thoughts?

Number Two

We've been working on Project Number Two all week, which consisted of gluing many hundreds of magnets onto whatever we could. Mostly that turned out to be cut up wine corks, beer bottle caps, and flattened glass beads, the kind usually used in flower vases.









































Of course wine is vital for any G.A.G. project. I got the beads from Freecycle, two gallon sized ziplocs worth, and we only had to pay for the magnets and glue. We spent less than $20 on materials.





























Katie picked out a pink floral flannel bandanna to hide her secret identity as we placed magnets all over the lamp posts along the waterfront.


















Jen opted for a more pastoral kerchief.


















Installing our public art on public art!


























Some passersby inquire about our activities.




























We not only decorated the lamp posts, but whatever we could.





























Someone walking by checking out our handiwork.




























We covered about 2000 feet of waterfront.








































One of the most exciting aspects of this project was the idea that people could move the magnets around and even take them home if they wanted. Jen went back to the waterfront midmorning and reported that many magnets had been repositioned. When Katie and I went back in the late afternoon to find that easily two-thirds of the magnets were gone. After what happened with the railing sleeve, I think someone was grabbing them by the handful and tossing them into the ocean. Katie is more optimistic and thinks that lots of people came by and got greedy for bottle cap and glass bead magnets and took them home by the handful.