#WDCD: Playing In The City

On the second day of the What Design Can Do in Amsterdam last week, I was expecting restlessness from the speakers and the audience. Nevertheless, hosts and speakers at WDCD managed to keep the audience entertained and focused until the end. The last speaker, Andrew Shoben, presented the work of Greyworld, a collective of artists that creates public art mostly in urban spaces.

Photo: Leo Veger

Ever since its foundation by Andrew in Paris, Greyworld has been actively  bringing life back to urban madness. From musical trees to an eight storey kinetic balls sculpture passing by Trafalgar Square’s very own sun, Greyworld creates playful artworks, involving a lot of interactivity, humor and creativity in urban areas.

Andrew’s presentation alternated between beautiful videos of his work and humorous anecdotes which made the clap-o-meter work for a while (he was the last speaker). In the book distributed by the organizers of What Design Can Do 2012, Andrew declares that he wants “more creative opportunities for ordinary people. Less noisy, shouting street visual and sonic bombardment – more opportunity to curate our urban surroundings”.

Check out a brief Flickr slideshow of images from the first day of What Design Can Do here, or the official photos here. Click here for Adam Nowek’s report of Day One at WDCD.