All aboard

Across London, digital screens are being installed on the roofs of bus shelters. And as a collaborative project, anyone can create an artwork for them. There are 30 black and red LED screens across London, on the roof of bus shelters where there were usually only rubbish, leaves, and old traffic cones.

 

Artists and amateurs

Each month, Bus Tops will present new works from an artist who will use one the screens exclusively. But there is also the chance for you to upload your own. The Bus-Tops project is one of 12 commissions across the UK forming part of Artists Taking the Lead, a programme funded by Arts Council England for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

And, as a Olympic funded project, one of the best pieces of news about the programme is that it has nothing to do with sport. It’s a sign that the Cultural Olympiad is starting to take off.

It is also an improvement on some other top-of-bus-shelter projects that have tried to take advantage of the dead space. For instance, some bizarre spikey balls were spread over some central London shelters. They have since rotted.

Artistically, this is about more than just showing art in new places. The screens are deliberately designed to reflect the advertising they sit alongside, and they look similar to the screens that show how long you have to wait before the next bus arrives.

Some of the artists are using that. Mark Titchner’s 31 Day Programme shouts out motivational challenges.

He says, “Throughout our daily lives, we constantly absorb images and texts that generate desire or ambition; that tell us that we can be more than we are... Daily changing animations invite the viewer to reflect on their aspirations and potential, framed in the language of advertising and motivational books.”

 

But what will the public submit?
While the artists will be good to see, we’ll be most interested to see what the public comes up with. Adverts for local shops and restaurants? LOL Cats? Football slogans? Obscene gestures and political statements? There’s bound to be some interesting content produced.

All aboard.