Artist Ted Dewan:

The DIY Street

A True Transformation Fairy Tale

Ted Dewan

The Roadwitch Trial began as a series of traffic-calming pranks in Oxford, born of Dewan’s frustration with the everyday outrage that he felt was no longer acceptable, especially with a young child in his house. With no roadmap in mind, these prank installations, which included a giant 11-foot bunny and a fake gory road accident between a strange car and a family of witches, soon captured the imagination of many neighbours and the press (as well as infuriating some motorists and even a few neighbours as well).

The pranks came to an end in 2006 when Dewan was approached by Sustrans to put some of the social capital residents has built up over the years to use in transforming the street from a motorist’s conduit to a living space. The residents formed an association and have worked together to present a detailed and thoroughly researched plan to Oxfordshire County Council for approval. The scheme, if approved, should be installed by 2010 or 2011. Curiously, many of the principles at work which made the ‘folk traffic-calming’ events a success are the very principles emerging in the form of shared space theory beloved by the new wave of urban planners.

Strand: Local Sustainability Projects

Type of event: Slide presentation and story, followed by brief interventions

Place: Mary Town Room right next to Main Hall in Community Centre

Starts: 16:00

Ends: 17:00

Presenter's Personal/Professional Background: Artist Ted Dewan

Author/illustrator and road-justice campaigner

Ted Dewan is an American author/illustrator and artist based in Oxford. His road justice campaigning began as a series of press-friendly mischievous installations on his own street, most notably, Living Room which was built with his neighbours. Dubbed “The Roadwitch Trial”, this series of temporary folk traffic-calming measures led to more substantial roadspace installation commissions from Oxford City and County Councils and Modern Art Oxford, including Cyclemas Tree (2004) and a position as lead artist for Luminox (2007). The residents’ association on Dewan’s street is currently working with Oxford’s two councils, Sustrans, and the Esme Fairbairn Foundation to pilot experimental resident-designed traffic-calming devices, currently in the consultation process. The overall concept behind the street’s redesign is to create the atmosphere of a living room in an attempt to alter the mood of passing motorists into a more appropriate state of mind.

Organisation: Self-employed

Email: headwitch@roadwitch.org.uk

Phone:

01865-553-517

Website: www.roadwitch.org.uk

Recommended links: www.roadwitch.org.uk, www.beechcroftroad.org.uk (residents' association site) www.wormworks.com (author site)