Park[ing] Day Brighton [2009]

Drive-Thru Silence & The Green Belt Take-Away. CiCi Blumstein & Joseph Young 2009. Photos: © Bip Mistry

Park[ing] Day Brighton launch event – Grand Seed Ball & The Green Felt installation. CiCi Blumstein 2009. Flyer design: Sara Popowa

Drive-Thru Silence & The Green Belt Take-Away. CiCi Blumstein & Joseph Young 2009. Photos: © Bip Mistry

Park[ing] Day Brighton. Co-curated & produced by CiCi Blumstein 2009. Flyer design: Sara Popowa

Drive-Thru Silence & The Green Belt Take-Away. CiCi Blumstein & Joseph Young 2009. Photos: © Bip Mistry

The first ever PARK[ing] Day in Brighton took place on Friday, 18 September 2009, featuring art installations and performance on six different park[ing] locations across the city, plus on three satellite sites along the coast, at schools in Eastbourne, Bexhill and Littlehampton. I initiated the project and worked in partnership with Blank Gallery & Studios to curate and produce the event. My own park[ing] space installation & performance, entitled Drive-Thru Silence & The Green Belt Take-Away [in collaboration with sound artist Joseph Young] was located in front of the amazing Embassy Court building on Brighton seafront. See a selection of photos in gallery above.

During a 2-week residency in the run-up to Park[ing] Day, my new interactive installation The Green Felt grew into an indoor allotment in Blank’s main gallery space, using plant contributions and green space measurements taken from visitors. The local community, schools, businesses and artists based at Blank were invited to collaborate and take part in the preparations for the launch of Park[ing] Day.

PARK[ing] Day background:

PARK(ing) Day is an original concept by San Francisco art collective REBAR. The group first created “PARK(ing)” in 2005 to re-imagine the potential of the metered parking space. In 2006, in collaboration with TPL [Trust for Public Land], REBAR founded “PARK(ing) Day”. It has now grown into an annual global exploration of the creative potential of streets, where artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public parks. Anyone can participate in PARK(ing) Day, though it is strictly a non-commercial project, intended to promote creativity, civic engagement, critical thinking, unscripted social interactions, generosity and play. For photos, videos, and news stories of PARK[ing] Day happening around the world, visit http://www.parkingday.org/

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