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External Exhibition Transforms 500 Unused Poster Sites
The #Covid Crisis has created empty poster sites all around the streets of Dublin. This creates a baron, empty, dirty, negative, pessimistic feeling in the community. Lowering everyone’s mood during this time of Covid 19 crisis in cities, towns and villages around the world.
Question: How to convert this negative feeling into a positive feeling? Think outside the box. Many disruptive business models are enjoying large scale success. e.g. Alibaba, the world’s most valuable retailer, owns no inventory. Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content (though it does take ownership!). Amazon are looking at ship and shop’ (anticipate your needs – ship/deliver goods and then ask you to confirm the order) rather than the tradigital ‘shop and ship’ model. So how can a photo gallery think outside the box?
Answer: The Positive Space Project, a city-wide crowd-funded exhibition that turns 500 unused poster sites across Dublin into a gallery for Irish photographers to be enjoyed by Dubliners. Rather than bring people to the gallery, bring the gallery to the people.
Thinking Outside The Box
So if people cannot go to galleries, bring the galleries to the people. Corina Gaffey started the GoFundMe campaign called The Positive Space. Basically they have raised money €7,500 (target €10,000) www.gofundme.com/f/the-positive-space . This money pays for the production and installation of the posters.
A Visual Feast For the Eyes
Is how Naoimi Gaffey, photographer, describes it. So sit back and enjoy from a distance, the great work by the photographers, the Gaffeys, the poster postermen. Art helps a city to thrive.
Shutters Also Improve Aesthetics and Promote #Brands
Metal shutters can be put to use: making the environment more pleasant, promoting the business and securing the business at night.
Wall & Keogh, Richmond Street South, Dublin. My own mother, Úna Ni Glasáin, had a chemist shop, at 13 College Green, Dublin 2. It was called Gleeson’s Chemist. It’s now a lovely little coffee shop called Keoghs (see red canopy below). I remember my Mum was deeply saddened when she had to put metal shutters up in the 1980s.
Keoghs, 13 College Green, Dublin (formerly Gleesons Chemist)
No one seemed to be thinking outside the boxes and generating beautiful eye-catching, city-enhancing, metal shutters back in the 1980s. But today there is much more art on the street – helping local people, helping artists, helping tourists, helping brands and helping businesses. And when we layer on #digital and #interactive signage, we will hopefully see even more interesting interactive aesthetically pleasing, yet secure, shop-fronts that help customers to preview, preselect or even order goods/services from a shop front. Have you seen anything interesting – perhaps Scots Road in #Singapore or anywhere else? Please send me in your photo and we’ll add it to this post.
We will look at Great Covid Idea: Silver Shutters as a separate post later.
Walls Also Improve Aesthetics and Promote #Brands
Dublin Print Company, 19-20 Redmonds Hill, Dublin 2
It is just great to see ‘owned media’ being used aesthetically. This is a small print company called Dublin Print Company. This is supported by the Grey Area Project in Dublin .
Today, however, retailers have options to be more creative. Let’s hopefully see a few more of these. In fact #DublinWalls DublinWalls.com promotes murals on walls.
DublinWalls.com is a photo collection of Dublin Walls created by talented artists. These murals embellish the capital city of Ireland. The next post, will explore how walls (owned media) are used by some marketers).
We will look at lots of interesting walls in Dublin plus a few from Belfast (The Guinness mural is so good I had to include it!). Please send me in your photos of anything that brightens up a street, an alley-way , a wall, a window or even a just a door. As marketers, we can brighten up our streets and support our brands and /or help spread important messages simultaneously. I will publish another blog post with lots of creative ideas from Dublin, Belfast, Dundalk, London and elsewhere.
See a lot more stunning images (and stories) in Great Covid Idea 2: Walls Of Gold . If you enter your email address in the ‘Subscribe to Marketing Insights’ form, I will send you an alert re any new posts.
Oscar Wilde Would Have Approved
Do you think Oscar Wilde, one of Dublin’s many great writers, was correct when he suggested that: “Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.” His statue in St Stephen’s Green (Dublin) is one of those rare #talkingstatues (he calls you on your mobile if you swipe the code).“Art is not to be taught in Academies……..The real schools should be the streets.” So here we are amidst the #Covid19 #Pandemic and artists, contemplating the words of Oscar Wilde. Almost 150 years later perhaps his words still ring true when he sensed the need to support art in our communities and on our streets: “When bankers get together for dinner, they discuss Art. When artists get together for dinner, they discuss money.” So let’s try and support artists, communities, brands and important government/social/Covid messages through the medium of art – particularly during this unique Covid-Economics era.
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Leveraging your owned media (walls, windows, doors) is a tactic (free advertising but you must check the details of your lease first and any local council restrictions). This tactical tool is part of the details of Strategy which is part of my SOSTAC® Planning framework. Those wanting to become SOSTAC® Certified Planners can visit SOSTAC.org
PR Smith’s SOSTAC® Planning framework circular diagram showing each of the 6 sections.
The Projects
The Positive Space
The Grey Area Project
is a Community Art Project registered charity supporting Dublin’s homeless. With a % of proceeds going to @ichhdublin (Inner City Helping Homeless) Visit www.ichh.ie or to donate/support go to www.ichh.ie/donate or see instagram greyarea_project .
Dublin Walls
DublinWalls.com has a street map with directions for walks to see various murals. Follow #DublinWallsCollection on Instagram for on the spot information
Luciana Marin
Luli took a lot of photographs of street art in Dublin. Luli stumbled across a Banksy mural one morning, in the middle of temple bar, close to the Mezz . Luli kindly gave us permission to use her instagram photos @lulimarin86 Follow #streetartaroundtheworldbylulimarin & #dublinwallscollection www.lucianamarin.com contains an intriguing collection of street art entitle #StreetArtChaser
Talking Statues
10 of Dublin’s most famous statues have been given the gift of the gab! Pass a Talking Statue, swipe your smartphone on a nearby plaque and presto, get a call back from James Joyce (written by Roddy Doyle and voiced by Gabriel Byrne), Oscar Wilde (written by John Banville and voiced by Andrew Scott), or Fidelity on the O’Connell Monument (written by Paula Meehan and voiced by Ruth Negga)! Each has a story to tell. Together, they tell Dublin’s story.
#greyareaproject. #mural#streetart#irishstreetart#streetartaroundtheworldbylulimarin#streetartdublin#dublinwallscollection
Congrats and thanks to Corina Gaffey for setting up #ThePositiveSpace Exhibition and for inspiring this post.
Some great ideas here and fabulous artworks.
School Moves PE Classes to Pitch n Putt Course & Science Classes to Nearby Nature Walks
Students at Castletown National School near Nobber are making use of the local pitch and putt club for PE and the greenway nearby for nature walks and science lessons.
“It’s not confining the students to the classroom, it’s bringing them outside and getting some fresh air and mitigating the risk that Covid can have in the classroom” explained Brien Kearns, Principal of Castletown NS.
The students can use the local pitch and putt club, which is next door to the school for PE and teachers say pupils are enjoying it.
“Like all schools, we’ve had to adapt. We’re very lucky to have the pitch and putt next door.
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2020/1109/1176995-meath-school/
Interesting contents. That makes you thinking truly outside the box!…