April 7, 2006

Flat footed art

I’ve seen these around the city for years in various boroughs. I assume this riff on the old-shoes-on-a-wire trend is supposed to make some sort of artistic statement. But what is it?

Flat feet

Comments

There is a famous tree near the Mississippi river-crossing footbridge on the West Bank side of the University of Minnesota where people allegedly through there tied together shoes up upon its branches after they’ve lost there virginity.

Next time I pass that way, I’ll take a picture for you and post it on my site.

I’m sorry, however, that I cannot explain the solo show pheomenon. It’s a bit like a peaking Kilroy though, isn’t it?

Jordan.

The flat, wooden sneakers are the trademark of a group called Skewville from the Lower East Side. They handcraft and silkscreen the shoes and throw them on telephone lines all over the world. More on Skewville.

Showfiti is a weblog devoted to the phenomenon of sneakers hanging on telephone wires.

Aren’t shoes over powerlines a landmark for people who want to buy drugs, like, a drug house nearby? This is what I was told growing up in Portland Oregon.

It looks like they made their point. No?

Shoes over powerlines means that the owner of the shoes was jumped and the thieves threw the shoes to demoralize the victim. Anytime they see the shoes they are reminded of what happened and there is nothing they can do about the shoes hanging there.