Water-Activated Street Art In Seattle To Make Everyone Smile On A Rainy Day

Everyone likes the smell after rain. But Seattle-based artist Peregrine Church wants you to like wet sidewalks, too, so he decorates them with graffiti that only appears in the rain. This kind of semi magical trick is achieved through copious used of superhydrophobic materials. In effect, the painting part of the sidewalks remain dry. And whichever Seattle citizens are forced to walk around during the rain have some jaunty images to brighten up their grayish day.

After all, that is the stated reason for doing the project. Peregrine Church also wants to assure everyone that this project is totally legal: the graffiti is temporary (depending on the foot traffic, the images can last up to 18 months), is not vulgar not advertisement, and he uses a non-toxic superhydrophobic coating. Specifically, it's one of the Always Dry products, but, as he says, he's not getting any advertisement money. As for the creation process, it's done similarly to regular graffiti. You have to start with a stencil, and then apply the coating wherever you want, probably at night.

For a no less noble, but somewhat messier use of hydrophobic coating, check out this post about German citizens fighting public urination.

More info: rain.works | Twitter (h/t: Colossal)