(54 votes, average: 4.93 out of 5)
Loading ...FlyerPlanterboxes!
I’ve got some new guerrilla gardening for your ass.
Pow!
This time I’m converting Flyerboxes to Planterboxes!
I’ve always been amazed by the state of most flyerboxes. More often that not, they are empty. Some haven’t been filled in years. Yet, there they are: everywhere in the city- at every intersection. Taking up valuable sidewalk space. Some are supposed to offer free news and culture print publications that make revenue from ads, some are supposed to offer free junk-mail type publications, with the expectation that someone will stop and take one completely beyond me. A rare few are supposed to offer a free publication of a certain political or religious leaning- probably bankrolled by whatever church or group can finance the publication of that message. For whatever reason, a great many of them offer nothing but an empty box.
But that offers a great opportunity for some people!
Graffiti artists love them as a platform for their stickers and tags. People with trash but nowhere to put it love them as a makeshift receptacle for garbage.
I tried to think of better ways than “Garbage Can” to reimagine the interior spaces of these flyerboxes- better ways to make use of the whole box- not just the exterior walls.
This is what I came up with. I think it’s pretty great, if I do say so myself. The boxes makes a perfect platform for planters- and with them you can guerrilla garden almost anywhere in the inhospitable concrete city! Best of all, it leaves the sides open for writers and artists.
…and with this “impending collapse of print media”? You may just see these appearing in old, abandoned Newspaper boxes.
May 25th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Very nice- perfect for the warm spring weather. Will you be making more? What street is that pictured?
May 25th, 2009 at 11:11 am
I’d vote for any mayoral candidate who promised to repurpose all these boxes this way.
May 25th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
this is just nice and i like it
May 25th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Thanks! Yup, more on the way. This one is near Spadina and Nassau, right at the edge of the market/chinatown.
May 25th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
@Oliver, How about ‘Deputy’ Mayoral Candidate promising same?
@Posterchild, these are fantastic!
With your permission, may I post your photos onto Torontopedia.ca/Planterboxes .
I also run a cityblog, and with your permission, I would like to ask if I could repost your article above, with complete by-line credit to you and links back to this url.
OR perhaps I could be there to document your next installation, taking pictures and a mini-interview.
Please let me know by commenting here.
Thanks,
HiMY SYeD
May 26th, 2009 at 5:50 am
I’m wondering, who takes care of these after you’re done? Have you don’t any research on the state of these over time? It would be interesting to find out if locals start taking care of these themselves over time. Certainly, the weather will cause problems from time to time. It would be nice to know that people are taking care of something beautiful put near them.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Haha, I just stumbled across this, I live at Spadina and Baldwin basicly. I will have to bring these guys some water later.
May 26th, 2009 at 10:15 am
@ HiMY SYed, Sure, feel free to re-post the page! I’m not sure how/when/where the next install will go, but if you drop me an email, I’ll try to let you know when it’s up! I’m a bit shy, but people around the new boxes always seem to have lots of very positive things to say!
@Jollygood, Yeah, I plan to go around and water them today, but, yeah, it’s also about encouraging citizen engagement, right? My past experience with guerrilla gardening has shown that while some people tear out the flowers, many more will actually care and tend for them! Sometimes even replanting boxes that have had their flowers torn out!
@ Brian, Great! The planter boxes are large with LOTS of soil to retain moisture- and are wooden, so will act like a terra cotta planter and release excess water- so feel free to pour it on! The plants should do well!
May 26th, 2009 at 10:59 am
I wonder how that will look after 3 months.
May 26th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
shopped
May 26th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
[...] we see more and more empty, abandoned street newspaper boxes, street artist Posterchild converted this one into a lovely planter with a simply-shaped plywood insert. [Read this article] [Comment on this [...]
May 26th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
[...] So why not use them to brighten up our streets? Urban artist Posterchild did just that with his newspaper bin gardens. [...]
May 26th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
[...] we see more and more empty, abandoned street newspaper boxes, Posterchild converted this one into a lovely planter with a simply-shaped plywood [...]
May 27th, 2009 at 6:24 am
Ingenious guerrilla gardening. As brilliant as ever. It’s been two years since I was there for a tour of your planted boxes. Do pop by if you’re in London.
May 27th, 2009 at 8:55 am
[...] we see more and more empty, abandoned street newspaper boxes, Posterchild converted this one into a lovely planter with a simply-shaped plywood [...]
May 27th, 2009 at 9:18 am
this is brilliant! well done and yet another clever way to get more color and life in the concrete jungle.
May 27th, 2009 at 9:32 am
[...] More here, including photos of the process. [...]
May 27th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
[...] check this out, Posterchild’s Blade Diary converts an old flyer dispenser into a flowerbox (discovered via Unconsumption). A loose interpretation of decorative dumpster but [...]
May 27th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
He he. I don’t know if its still there, but there’s a commercial establishment near Kipling/Queensway that has a major stack of old Nat Post boxes. Maybe they’d part with a few for a more interesting “installation”. Wonder if Connie Black would object…
Email me if you want me to swing by to see if they’re still there.
May 27th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
This looks Photoshopped to me. The pixels on the box are all wrong, not to mention that I’ve seen my fair share of ’shops.
May 27th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
I live at Dundas and Spadina.. going down there tomorrow morning to check this out. They are getting plenty of water today!
May 28th, 2009 at 12:29 am
that is so damn cool! someone says photoshopped! come on! no way and why would they?
May 28th, 2009 at 11:17 am
I must have walked right by this and didn’t even notice this morning HA!
May 28th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Oh my god, what an amazing idea.
May 28th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Great effort!!
May 28th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
I think it’s a great idea. I know if one was outside my building I’d water it. I hope others would do the same. So pretty.
May 28th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
You could paint “water me” on the side of the wooden box.
May 29th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Love that idea!
May 29th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
This is a kick-ass idea to beautify the city. If only more people had the initiative and motivation to do stuff on their own. Then we in the states wouldn’t need government in everything. We just need some good street artists to recycle our trash and make great stuff.
May 29th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Nice! I live in mexico city and I should definitely start doing something like this. Not many flyerboxes here but i´m sure i´ll find something. Great idea, keep it up.
May 30th, 2009 at 5:46 am
It’s sp nice! I like them.
May 30th, 2009 at 11:17 am
[...] Blumen statt Flyer: Posterchild hat Blumenboxen installiert. [...]
May 30th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Hi, I stumbled on this. Please excuse my naivete, but why on Earth would someone tear out perfectly good plants? I think your box is just brilliant. Keep up the good work!
May 30th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Wow. I would suggest people start doing this in my home-city, Boston, but the police might freak out. Flowers are totally scarier than Mooninites. (see also: http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/31/led-ad-campaign-igni.html )
June 1st, 2009 at 7:19 am
[...] of resource re-use, are giving new purpose to newspaper and flyer dispensers that now sit vacant. Bladediary.com A street artist called Posterchild is converting old newspaper and flyer dispensers into flower [...]
June 1st, 2009 at 8:50 am
[...] dispensers on the street might not have to go to waste. According to the New York Times an artist in Toronto has come up with the idea to turn these dispensers into flower pots around the city. While it seems [...]
June 1st, 2009 at 9:46 am
Dave K – I don’t mind if it looks terrible in 3 months – looks great now!! Maybe you could help Posterchild/Blade out by watering and weeding…would look great in 3 months then! I’ll try to go by Spadina and Nassau next time I’m in TO and water the planter.
Thanks, Posterchild/Blade!
S
June 2nd, 2009 at 8:52 pm
not a fan of the visible TTC
June 3rd, 2009 at 11:22 am
[...] dispensadores de periodicos en pequeños jardines urbanos, Posterchild esta creando conciencia verde en las calles de [...]
June 4th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Ha Toronto! This is like putting lipstick on a pig.
June 5th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
[...] via Blade Diary by Will Sherman on June 5, 2009 at 2:36 [...]
June 9th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
[...] It’s been a rainy, dreary start to the summer here in Philadelphia, but stumbling across this blog post brightened my day. A street artist in Toronto, Ontario, Canada has recycled some abandoned, empty [...]
June 15th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Lovely!!!! Great use of the flyerbox!
June 20th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
[...] 21, 2009 by prisbw I found a blog post this week about a guerrilla gardener in the U.S. who has converted a flyer box into a planter [...]
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:28 am
[...] green space with pops of color – guerrilla flowerboxes. Want to know more? Find out how to make your own out of empty newspaper stands. * Another cute and clever way to be eco-friendly? Make your dress [...]
June 29th, 2009 at 5:54 am
[...] Flyer Planter Boxes This is by far the best idea I’ve seen so far for all those out of date newspaper boxes. [...]
July 6th, 2009 at 7:43 am
dear posterchild:
i like the planter boxes series, particularly the last one shown above. i’m editing a chinese-language magazine called cna newsworld ( a monthly). we’re publishing a series of stories about the impending demise of newspapers and found that this photo fits our theme quite well. in wonder if i can use this photo as part of my editing job. if you are willing to sell it, i can pay a price. please quote me then.
thank you very much for your kind attention and reply.
sincerely yours,
sc chang
August 14th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
[...] than using them for graffiti or stickers, an artist has started turning old, empty Leaflet boxes into flower pots. Nice touch on changing something old and ugly into new and pleasing… | Competitive [...]
September 10th, 2009 at 4:55 am
What a fantastic idea !!! Hope there’s someone to water the plants!!!
November 6th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
[...] HAVE BEEN GARDENED!! So great. More [...]