For well over 10 years, British artist Ben Long has created public art using only his hands. Fingers act as a paintbrush as he produces elaborate drawings on the rear shutters of dirty freight trucks. They transform these large vehicles into mobile works of art, and Long has appropriately named his on-going series The Great Traveling Art Exhibition.
Long goes beyond the scribbles and crude sayings that are commonly found on these trucks, as he depicts detailed birds, horses, and even a girl with her dog. Subjects are selected based on the type of artwork that you might find in many UK households. The artist has also cleverly used the shutter's box structure as a framing device.
Since these vehicles will eventually be washed (or rained on), Long's artwork is only temporary, although they occasionally last up to six months. This is partially what makes The Great Traveling Art Exhibition so wonderful; its presence, no matter how fleeting, brightens our day in an unexpected way when we happen to see the larger-than-life drawings.
Ben Long website
via [Toxel]
