All cities have their “thing”, if only so that they have something to stick on the t-shirts they sell to tourists. And for Seattle, Washington, that thing is that it rains a lot.
Granted, this is a little depressing, especially when other US cities get taglines like “barbequed pork capital of the world” or “the magic city” . But a street artist has decided to turn Seattle’s dubious hallmark into a virtue by creating art that only shows up when it’s raining.
The pieces are stencilled on to sidewalks across the city using hydrophobic paint, which repels water and so creates a contrast between the painted section and the rest of the sidewalk. Revealing the artwork looks a lot like a magic trick:
Peregrine Church, the works’ creator, says the idea came from a desire to “make the world an interesting place”:
They’re messages or images designed to make people’s rainy day a little bit better… it’s sort of the ideal Seattle art.
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Church estimates that as of this month, there are between 25 and 30 of the pieces scattered around the city, but he wants to make “way more”. Below are a few examples.
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All images courtesy of Rainworks.
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