CITY IS A PLAYGROUND
FLORIAN RIVIÈRE (FR)
EXHIBIT & CITYWIDE
FRI 22.06.12 – SAT 08.09.12
City is a Playground subverts our daily routines by turning familiar urban infrastructures and markings into new sites for fun and play. Rivière’s interpretations draw on his childhood games, subconscious suggestions, and days spent dreaming and re-imagining different ways to engage with the city. In his world, our daily encounters with everyday street furniture and objects are turned on their head. Dustbins become basketball hoops, bike lanes transform into running tracks and manholes become bullseye targets. Using materials from the street, temporary graffiti methods, duct tape and found objects, Rivière’s city markings turn the city into an urban, physical game board.
Scattered across the city, you will stumble across Rivière’s pieces. They have specifically been left off the map so that you can discover, play and explore.
BIO: Florian Rivière considers himself an urban hacktivist, inspired by hacker, DIY and upcycling cultures. His work focuses on allowing citizens to reclaim their urban environments. He uses raw and found materials to create games, furnishings, traps, maps and instructions which allow citizens to reclaim their urban environments. Between 2008 – 2012, he established and led the German collective Democratie Creative that created a series of public interventions within Strasbourg.