PLOT
From CT4CT: Creative Tools for Critical Times
(P)LOT
Michael Rakowitz’s (P)LOT (2004) is a participatory public intervention that utilized portable tent-like frames and nylon car covers to create shelters that resemble (from the exterior) parked cars adorned with protective covers. Citizens in Vienna, Austria were invited in 2004 to loan these structures from the Museum of Modern Art (MUMOK) and to then re-assemble and inhabit them in municipal parking spots around the city. Rakowitz provided five different structures to choose from, ranging from a common Sedan to a luxury sports car or motorcycle. This work artfully questions taken-for-granted sanctioned uses of public urban space. As Rakowitz (2007) explains, rather than using municipal parking spots as storage spaces for vehicles, this project proposes “the rental of these parcels of land for alternative purposes.”
According to Rakowitz:
P(LOT) questions the occupation and dedication of public space and encourages reconsiderations of "legitimate" participation in city life. Contrary to the common procedure of using municipal parking spaces as storage surfaces for vehicles, P (LOT) proposes the rental of these parcels of land for alternative purposes. The acquisition of municipal permits and simple payment of parking meters could enable citizens to, for example, establish temporary encampments or use the leased ground for different kinds of activities.
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