An exciting new venture, the Box Project, gave 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) ran from 3-7 August, the first phase of The Box Project will come to life.
Ten young, talented Durban artists, who are dedicated to beautifying our city, 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.
