In Manchester, England, an activist has taken to the streets to get potholes fixed.
The ancient tradition of penis graffiti is directing fresh attention to the problem of failing infrastructure.
The pothole is a common annoyance for drivers, especially in parts of the United States which are just warming up after a cold, icy winter. Some potholes remain for years, becoming constant hazards on roadways. But is scribbling penises on the road with chalk the answer? That’s what one frustrated, anonymous man in the United Kingdom decided recently.
Few would dispute the immaturity evident in penis graffiti. Between the simplicity involved in its representation and the juvenile taboo busting of its nature, the practice is most associated with apathetic teenagers looking to shock a few adults. Still, the practice dates back centuries, as the Guardian revealed last year, when perhaps the oldest known penis pictures were discovered on an Aegean island:
“Chiselled into the outcrops of dolomite limestone that dot the cape, the inscriptions have provided invaluable insight into the private lives of those who inhabited archaic and classical Greece. One, believed to have been carved in the mid-sixth century BC, proclaimed: ‘Nikasitimos was here mounting Timiona (Νικασίτιμος οἶφε Τιμίονα).’”
Separated by thousands of miles and years, an unnamed Manchester, England, resident has been using industrial chalk to draw penis pictures for a new cause — not to boast of prowess, but to draw shame to failing city streets.
Fast Co. Design reported Monday:
“He goes by Wanksy. And using what appears to be an industrial level chalk, he draws penises around the potholes, creating moments of visual terrorism that the city can’t ignore. Really. Because according to the Manchester Evening News, within 48 hours of Wanksy’s efforts, many of Manchester’s problematic potholes, which had been a nuisance for years, were filled. Within a week, even more were fixed.”
Wanksy’s work is not universally applauded, however. “Every penny that we have to spend cleaning off this graffiti is a penny less that we have to spend on actually repairing the potholes!” complained a local official.
Activists like Steve Wheen have previously targeted potholes with a less puerile alternative: the pothole garden. Wheen, who operates The Pothole Gardener blog, received international media attention for planting flowers, sometimes accompanied by doll furniture or other miniature tableaus, in damaged walkways. Wheen says his project is about “creating unexpected moments of happiness,” not making a political statement.
Schenectady resident Elaine Santore fills a pothole in the middle of North Center St. with pansies.
Working in Schenectady, New York, last month, resident Elaine Santore was more direct about her dual-purpose pothole gardens:
“Santore is filling potholes on Broadway and North Center Street with dirt and planting colorful pansies. She said she decided to fill potholes with flowers to make a statement and to make people smile.
‘It has been a horrible winter so I wanted to cheer some people up,’ she said. ‘Everybody knows that the potholes are bad and that the city could do a better job.’”
However whimsical the activism, the problem of unrepaired roads, bridges and other infrastructure is real and getting worse.
“Tens of millions of American cross over bridges every day without giving it much thought, unless they hit a pothole. But the infrastructure problem goes much deeper than pavement. It goes to crumbling concrete and corroded steel and the fact that nearly 70,000 bridges in America — one out of every nine — is now considered to be structurally deficient,” CBS news reported in November.
Things aren’t much better off in England, home to Wanksy, where the Express reported in March: “One pothole fixed every 15 SECONDS – but will still take 13 years to repair failing roads.”
Indeed, it may be a problem beyond what flowers can fix.
“Some potholes you need more than pansies. You need a tree,” said Santore.