Joe Slovo Drive Gauntlet - a living billboard visualising opinions (from the demo-graphic installation).
Client: Johannesburg Roads Agency
Status: on hold
Budget: confidential
Services Offered: full suite
Demo-graphic - a graphic that demonstrates a demographics’ position - is an art project which visually communicates public opinions.
The Joe Slovo Gauntlet is a green wall (living billboard) that is placed on a busy underpass in Johannesburg (Joe Slovo Drive).
The billboard uses hydroponics to grow
plants. Each plant’s growth is controlled digitally and acts as a pixel in a
predetermined composition - i.e. each plant’s growth is used to create a part
of a picture; the decision to allow a plant to grow is linked to a public poll
on a yes-no question that is posed to them on an easily accessible online
platform like twitter or whatsapp, etc. The “yes’” may lead to one group of
plants growing and the “no’s” may lead to another. The overall density of the
composition provides a clue to the public participation and the composition
itself represents the public’s opinion.
The gradual
growth of the plants to form the composition can intrigue those who drive on
the road daily. When the composition is complete, the plants can become a
public resourse: beautify the streetscape, slightly contribute to the removal
of pollutants, provide fruit or vegetables to pedestrians and show the public
what the general opinion of their neighbourhood is.
