On Friday, September 9th in New York City, Illegal Art installed The Shadow to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Starting at the corner of 5th Avenue and 14th Street and heading north for 1,368 feet (417 meters), the height of the tallest of the two towers, we marked in chalk each of the 110 floors of the tallest of the two towers ending just shy of 20th Street.

At the base of each floor we provided a cups filled with pieces of chalk whose total represented the number of people who perished in and around the two towers that day. Passersby were encouraged to walk the length of the height of the buildings and use the chalk to write words of memorial associated with that day. The project remained until the chalk faded away.

On Saturday, September 10, 2011, Illegal Art commemorated the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with Indelible Memory. Passersby were asked to dip two fingers into a pot of grey indelible ink to represent the twin towers and to reflect on the location and impact of the event over the number of days it takes for the ink to fade from their fingers. The project was part of, Rethinking Memorial: Ten Interactive Sites for Remembering 9/11, co-presented by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC), The Dumbo Improvement District and Illegal Art, with support from Two Trees Management Company.

On Saturday, September 10, 2011, Illegal Art commemorated the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with Morning Sky. Passersby were asked to paint a 6″ square with the color they believe to be the sky to have been on the morning of 9/11. The project was part of, Rethinking Memorial: Ten Interactive Sites for Remembering 9/11, co-presented by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC), The Dumbo Improvement District and Illegal Art, with support from Two Trees Management Company.

God is a 27” X 36” (70CM X 92 CM) poster that features the word “God” with a comma and a background reminiscent of school children’s writing paper. The piece is posted in public spaces. This open format encourages the public to finish the sentence; it is their own interpretation and response to this provocative word.

As of October, 2004, GOD was posted in both Rock Hill, South Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina. We are very excited with our projects being posted in these new locations. Please view the photos documenting the placement and interaction of the posters. A special thank you to J. Lauren Jackson and her associates for making this possible.

Suggestion Box is an 18” X 18” X 18” (45CM X 45CM X 45CM) cardboard box, painted white with “SUGGESTION” stenciled in black letters on four sides. There is a small slit on the top of the box where the public can submit a suggestion. The box is carried along with clipboards, paper and pens. The public is asked to make suggestions about anything they would like. The suggestions are to be compiled and published. Suggestions are also being taken below:

Click here to see previously submitted suggestions

Personal Space is a yellow non-adhesive barrier tape normally used at crime scenes and areas of construction. Instead of “CAUTION” or “DO NOT CROSS” it is printed “PERSONAL SPACE”. The tape is installed in areas where pedestrians can use and interpret the designated personal space any way they see to fit their needs: to take space, have a private moment with others, contemplate their lack of space in their office, home, community, city, or life or laugh and many other ways as well.

In collaboration with Comet Skateboards, Illegal Art designed a skateboard using our third project, Personal Space, as the inspiration. The board is called Tape, and is selling at skateboard and action sports shops throughout the world, as well as on the Comet Skateboards website, www.cometskateboards.com. The Comet Skateboards Community stands for constant innovation in skateboard design and environmentally sustainable means of production. Comet sees skateboarding as an alternative to fuel consumption and a way to progress artistically.

Illegal Art attempted to move from one designated point to another using the public’s written word as a path to travel. Passersby are asked to write a word or phrase with chalk on the asphalt connected to the one proceeding. Upon reaching our destination, we leave a completed urban poem behind us for the public to read. This was first attempted on October 11th, 2003, in Central Park in New York City. After one hour, and approximately 100 participants, we traveled a 1/4 of a mile through the park, ending at the steps near Bethesda Fountain, our final destination. New destinations will be chosen soon.

Illegal Art hosts a number of events for the public to participate. These range from creating your own posters with others and installing them in public to helping Illegal Art to install one of their pieces of interactive art.

For the Month of May, 2006, Illegal Art created In Complete, an unfinished sentence painted onto the window display of The Apartment at 101 Crosby Street in Manhattan.

The sentence, written as:

I ___________________because____________ makes

me_____________and_______________.

was meant to encourage the passerby to finish the sentence, add on to what other’s had written, or erase it and start over. Some people emoted, some wrote sadness and others used it as a means to express daily frustrations or fantasies. And of course, bucket of colorful chalk and sponge were provided.