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: