everydaytrash

As part of a piece installed in a series of vacant buildings in Minneapolis, artists Aaron Bickner and Andrew Shannon created a walk-through pop-up book of fantastical urban scenes. They called it “Save Canvas.” The idea: make use of a bunch of prime real estate scheduled for demolition and rebirth as a fancy condo, but which has been sitting empty for several years as redevelopment projects are put on hold in this bad economy. Temporary upcycling, if you will.

Save Canvas

Here’s a video and a comprehensive post from the blog eyeteeth, which is also where I ripped the photo.

According to the site, “Save Canvas” ran for the month of August, so I sadly will not get to see it when I visit the Twin Cities in a couple weeks. As an aside: I found out about this supercool initiative via an alert from the Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council, of which Bickner and I are both alum. The idea behind the council is to involve young people in planning and programs at the Walker to ensure that the center is an inviting place for the next generation to appreciate modern art. As a founding member, it’s nice to see that the WACTAC is still going strong and that its alum are involved in such innovative projects as this one. You can fan WACTAC on Facebook here.