EDINA TOKODI
Eco-minded street artist Edina Tokodi
is putting a new spin
on green guerilla tactics in the
trendy art enclave of Williansburg,Brooklyn.
Tokodi's site-specific moss installations
of prancing animal figures
and camouflage outgrowths are
the talk of a local urban
neighborhood typically accustomed
to gallery hype and commercial
real estate take-overs.
Unlike the market-driven art featured
in sterile,white boxs galleries,
the work of Tokodi's is meant to
be touched,felt and in turn
touch you in the playful ways
that her animated installations
call to mind a more familiar,
environmentally friendly state
in the barren patches of
urban existence.
Tokodi belives strongly that
reactions of passersby (or the lack of
reactions at all)is really an
indicator of a deeper malaise that we
need to pay attention to and reseed
with"mentally healthy garden state"
and direct interactive engagement.
The artist states:
I think that our distance from nature
is already a cliché. City dwellers often
have no relationship with animals
or greenery. As a public artist I feel a sense
of duty to draw attention to
deficiencies in our everyday life.
As a cultivator of eco-urban sensitivity,
I usually go back to the sites
to visit my "plants" or "moss",
sometimes to repair them a bit,
but nothing more generally as they
tend get enough water from the air,
condensation,and rain-especially
in certain seasons.I also like
to let them live by themselves,
from the moment I put them
on the street they start to
have their own life. For me,
the reaction of life on the street
is also very important,I am
curious about how people received them,
if they just leave them alone,
or if they want to take care
of them or dismantle them.
This is what makes my work similar to
graffiti,although I am searching
for a deeper social meaning and dialogue
with memories of the animals and
gardens of my past in a small town in
Central Europe.
I believe that if everyone had a garden
of their on to cultivate,we
would a much more balanced relation
to our territories.
Of course,a garden can be many things.
Edina Tokodi studied graphic art and design
at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts
and also completed urban design course
work in Milan,Italy.
Her work can be seen on the steets of
Williamsburg,Brooklym and
unexpected outcroppings on a street
near you.
