The leading Street Art Festival, Nuart, in Stavanger, Norway have commissioned a series of curated Street Art Buses with the latest courtesy of Belgian stencil artist Jaune titled “Unsung Heroes.”
For this project the urban interventionist from Brussels transformed an 18-meter bus into a giant cardboard box with two contrasting scenes on either side. He cleverly based his work on the paradox between the visible and the invisible depicted by sanitation workers placed in a range of humorous scenes that provoke order and chaos. On the side where the public enters the bus, the artist has created a relatively serene scene, while the other depicts characters clinging on for the ride.
The figures in Jaune‘s works are recognizable, amusing, intriguing and they give the viewer a second thought about these hard workers in general. After realizing these garbagemen exists in the background of our urban environment, becoming almost invisible to the average person, he decided to symbolically place them in absurd and playful scenarios in and around the city streets.
To ensure visibility, the artist created life-size stencils, which was necessary due to the size and speed at which the canvas will be moving. Jaune notes “in the same way that the scale of advertising ensures you can read it driving by in 1 second, this is the same principle…except you’re not moving, the canvas is.”
The artist first recreated the shape of the bus to proportion with cardboard boxes and then made his sketch directly on top. Using the boxes which are commonly used as containers for all types of objects, Jaune decided to maintain their background to keep this link with the idea of moving goods and delivering objects.
The Street Art buses were first created in 2016 as a collaboration between Stavanger and regional bus company Kolumbus. Previous artists that have participated in the project include Ampparito, Add Fuel, Ernest Zacharevic, Martin Whatson, Hama Woods and M-City who aimed to raise awareness about refugees.
Making invisible visible, street art provides an outlet for those who become marginalized from day to day life in the city. As James Finucane, General Manager at Nuart Festival explains, Jaune’s practice is the perfect example of empowering the individual’s claim to their urban environment. “We hope that people will enjoy seeing Jaune’s bus rolling through Stavanger’s streets and, if nothing else, that it puts a smile on people’s faces.”
Normally created on a miniature scale, Jaune’s wearing workers become the centerpiece of another comical scenario, but on a life-size scale. In this way, mass transport becomes a bit more exciting and interesting, adding enjoyment to the daily lives of commuters.
This years’ Nuart Festival will take place in Stavanger, Norway from September 6 until September 9, 2018.
Images by Brian Tallman
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Nuart Festival: Website | Facebook | Instagram
