‘Rituals’ – Yarn Bombing Project on the Williamsburg Bridge by HOT TEA

Although it boasts stunning views of New York City, the Williamsburg Bridge on the East River in Brooklyn is one of those long, stern, graffiti covered, menacing looking contraptions that don’t really make you smile when you look at them. So, Minneapolis based street artist HOT TEA decided to turn this around and make the walk across the bridge a jolly and fun experience by simply infusing an array of rainbow colours into it. He called the project ‘Rituals’.

How did he do it? HOT TEA took colourful yarn and strung it across the bridge’s access ramp, three metres above the ground (apparently, the process is called yarn bombing). He says that the idea came from his past experiences including “a grandmother teaching the skill of knitting, anti-gay bullying from kids at school, and, most importantly, the relationships that were developed along the way – negative or positive”.

In 2010, HOT TEA created a similar multicoloured yarn celing over a bridge in Alaska. Whether you view street or guerrilla art as an act of vandalism or a beautiful addition to our drab skyline, you cannot deny the fact that HOT TEA turned walking through the Williamsburg Bridge’s pedestrian pathway a really whimsical experience. [via]