(Done by Shaun Oakley
@ Joe Cools)
An exciting new venture, the Box Project, has given 10 plain
Jane electricity boxes in Durban’s CBD a total make over and transform them
into jaw-dropping artworks.
In the lead up to, and during the International Union of
Architects Conference 2014 (UIA) at the beginning of August, the first phase of
The Box Project came to life.
Ten young, talented Durban artists turned these functional
pieces of urbanisation into something that is not only a necessity, but also an
eye-catcher for metropolitans. The artists involved in the first phase are
Jonathan Blaine, Mookie Chapman, Ewok, Joshua Harman, Tasheera Jai Jai, Dave
Knudsen, Daniel Nel, Kev Ngwenya, Shaun Oakley, Tyran Roy, Nkosinathi
Ntshalintshali, Sean Stretch and Lalelani Mbhele from the African Art Centre.
The technical and warning signage which is normally spread
all over the box front, will now be neatly placed on a yellow strip at the top
of the box, leaving the rest of the space as a blank canvas for the artists.
The project is the brainchild of Jonas Barausse of Street
Scene and Gabriella Peppas from Ilifindo, who are working in collaboration with
the eThekweni Municipality. The second and third stage of the project aims to
move from Durban CDB into suburbia and surrounding townships. Barausse and
Peppas aim to take this project into the private sector after the completion of
phase three. With their “Adopt a Box” project, businesses will be able to
sponsor the transformation of unsightly electrical boxes near them into public
works of art, giving them the opportunity to play a role in beautifying their
surroundings.
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