TELEPHONE POLES

Is the telephone pole just a utility to hold up wires, or is it an overlooked masterwork of urban installation art?
I have documented the unintentional art produced by years of anonymous contributors stapling advertising flyers to telephone poles. Considered a form of graffiti by some, these unusual displays of abstract layers and colors change daily, as more flyers are added or torn of, by people or by extreme weather conditions.
These colorful telephone poles are only found in certain areas, as most cities have laws forbidding this type of vertical litter. Metal poles and under-street wiring are gradually replacing wooden poles so this type of street advertising - the accidental art it creates - will gradually disappear.
I have photographed the telephone poles and flyers, in a nearby Berkeley, CA neighborhood, to document exactly what was happening at that moment in time. I then manipulated the images on my computer to distort some of the details and contours and reproduced these images using hand dyed fabrics which were cut and collaged together. The details and contours were then added back with hand embroidery. The result is an almost - painterly translation that mimics some of the layered and fragmented character of the original street art.