Modern Beasts – The Streewalker
As a regular writer in Scotland I have become interested in the ways in which art can be publicly distributed in the way magazines and newspapers are.
This project is inspired by Aberdeen’s unique bestiary housed in Aberdeen University Library, which with its colourful and natural illustrations to me is an ideal embodiment of the theme ‘Green View’. I would like to respond to Aberdeen University’s compendium of beautiful beasts by creating a series of black and yellow signs to distribute across Aberdeen with illustrated modern animals relating to those in the bestiary in playful and humorous ways.
The design of the signs is based on common yellow and black road signs which often illustrate warnings about animals which might disrupt or intrude a journey. I am interested in the ways animals have infiltrated and adapted to urban situations and how this has very often become necessary for their survival. Perhaps these signs will warn about beasts lurking in the undergrowth in unexpected places, or warn about hybrid, monstrous creatures of the future. The signs will be situated across many of the green sites Aberdeen has to hold, relating to the theme of ‘Green View’ in a more literal way, and aimed at disrupting the green view for pedestrians.
Rosie Lesso