The Miha Artnak, the prolific Ljubljana graffiti artists, designer and prankster, has once again struck a nerve with his latest project. After last year's street action, in which he crossed the road illegally as a statement of artistic freedom, he recently started a new project in which he artfully places trash in public spaces in an attempt to make people more mindful about their pollution, launching it last month in Abu Dhabi.
As an article in The Guadrain writes:
“I want you to pollute the same way as you do every day. Just make it more visible,” he told me via Skype while drinking from a plastic water bottle through a straw. “It’s important to be mindful about your pollution, to be present in the moment,” he added, “that way you show how much you care.”
The action, which has seen others around the world join in by making artful messes of their own, is called “Pollutism” and is of a piece with Artnak’s earlier high profile projects, such as his paintings made from pigeon droppings and attempt, somewhat successful, to rebrand BTC City as Bitcoin City.
Miha Artnak gets some attention from the authorities during an earlier street intervention
In addition to his attention grabbing stunts, Miha is also a member of the ZEK crew, co-founder of the creative centre Poligon, and a managing director of the design studio Ljudje, which has produced work for, among others, the Museum of Architecture & Design, Klub K4, Flaviar Inc, and Gramatik, and most recently did the visual identity for the 26th Biennial of Design in Ljubljana, BIO 26. You can keep up with Miha’s work here, and with that of the ljudje / people design studio here.
