Key To The City

(images http://www.fastcompany.com/1658516/key-to-the-city-new-york-public-art-project)

Project Summary 

I have come across an art project which took place in New York last Summer, named 'Key to the City', in which keys are produced to unlock secret locations around the city. Artist, Paul Ramirez Jonas is responsible for the project. The keys unlock several areas around New York, including a locker, secret gardens and hidden rooms and add up to 24 locations.

My Thoughts

I was drawn to this project as I feel it compares nicely with what I am currently exploring, the idea of public art combined with finding areas of shelter in a community. As I plan on creating a portable home, this ties in nicely, the idea of different areas around a city which could be used as homes. I could envisage repeating this project around Manchester, almost like a treasure hunt to find a home. 

Ramirez's work focuses on the locked and unlocked and is not the first time he has included keys in a project. One project involved mailing 5,000 keys to an area of public art which could only be accessed by those 5,000 to create a feeling of shared ownership. Although my portable home is more of a statement than something which truly belongs to someone I like that it could be a shared piece, that it could be used between people for those in need. His use of the 'key' as something which requires trust and social communication rather than just an object intrigues me and makes me wonder whether my portable home should also require a key.