The 'Songs for Thomas Piketty' Project Uses Boomboxes to Collect Money
Katherine Pendrill — March 25, 2016 — Social Good
References: songsforthomaspiketty & fastcoexist
'Songs for Thomas Piketty' is a new project that uses boomboxes to collect money in a Dutch city where panhandling has been outlawed. The project ultimately demonstrates a creative way of bringing visibility back to a population that often goes unnoticed.
Songs for Thomas Piketty is a project organized by artist Dries Verhoeven as a mean of combating a ban on panhandling in the Dutch city of Utrecht. The project involves a series of boomboxes installed throughout Utrecht and nearby Rotterdam. Each audio system plays a song about unity and then a recording of a real person asking for help. The idea behind the project is to bring visibility back to the city's homeless population and demonstrate that bans on panhandling do nothing to combat the true root of inequality. As Verhoeven explains, "Art in general can offer resistance to this tendency to tune things out, it can deactivate our 'autopilot.'"
Songs for Thomas Piketty is a project organized by artist Dries Verhoeven as a mean of combating a ban on panhandling in the Dutch city of Utrecht. The project involves a series of boomboxes installed throughout Utrecht and nearby Rotterdam. Each audio system plays a song about unity and then a recording of a real person asking for help. The idea behind the project is to bring visibility back to the city's homeless population and demonstrate that bans on panhandling do nothing to combat the true root of inequality. As Verhoeven explains, "Art in general can offer resistance to this tendency to tune things out, it can deactivate our 'autopilot.'"
Trend Themes
1. Visible Panhandling - Creating innovative ways to bring visibility back to panhandlers through creative projects like 'Songs for Thomas Piketty'.
2. Alternative Fundraising - Using boomboxes as a unique means of collecting money and supporting causes in a ban on panhandling.
3. Artistic Activism - Utilizing art as a form of resistance and activism to challenge societal issues such as bans on panhandling.
Industry Implications
1. Art and Culture - The 'Songs for Thomas Piketty' project falls within the realm of the art and culture industry, incorporating artistic elements to address social concerns like panhandling.
2. Fundraising and Philanthropy - The project's use of boomboxes for alternative fundraising highlights potential disruptive innovations in the fundraising and philanthropy sector, exploring new ways to generate support for causes.
3. Social Advocacy - The project intersects with the field of social advocacy, showcasing the potential for disruptive innovations to challenge laws and policies regarding panhandling.
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