Space not spikes: Artists help turn anti-homeless spikes into sleeping spaces

[n2doc]

Small, sharp spikes are being used to discourage homeless people from sleeping in some public areas in London. But a group of artists has found a creative way to challenge the system, gluing a mattress on top of the spikes and adding a small bookshelf, with free books available for the public.

Leah Borromeo​, one of the artists involved in the protest, explained to The Independent that the idea was sparked when a group of women came out of a store and laid their shopping bags over the spikes on the ledge so they could sit there.


"That got me thinking that these spikes, which have so aggressively been laid to keep the 'wrong' sort of people out, or even just to deter people from having a sit-down, needed to be neutralised," she said.



"Regardless of whether you own, rent or even have a home, the streets are ours."



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[Telcontar]

1. Yeah...not sure what I think about this

The streets may be yours, but the building sure isn't. And you will see a decline in business with homeless people outside the establishment.

That said, those spikey things are just...I dunno. Wrong?

[The2ndWheel]

2. That doesn't look like the street though

That's part of the building, which I doubt was intended for people to sit on, let alone sleep on.

It's not an easy situation, I don't know if spikes are even the answer, but glued on beds, pillows, and books don't seem to be the answer either.

[procon]

3. Those things look dangerous.

How can that be legal when the sole purpose would be to inflict great bodily harm? Did anyony think that people could get seriously hurt... slip and fall and they get impaled, some toddler trips, people don't notice the unexpected and who would expect to encounter medieval torture devices on a public walkway!

[raouldukelives]

4. You have to appreciate the mindsets that conjure up these ideas.

Profiting from destroying others lives and then making sure those destroyed by you remain as uncomfortable as possible as they struggle to survive in the world you have helped create for them.

One where you either join with the hive or you get ostracized.

[Hekate]

5. Those things are actually dangerous, they're so sharp. whatthehell

[MineralMan]

6. Anyone who would put spikes like that in place,

will never get any business from me. Such cruelty deserves the contempt of all thinking people.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. Agreed. n/t

[Gormy Cuss]

8. What the spikes say is "not our problem"

and that's fundamentally a problem with the general public's attitude about the homeless. What the artists did was re-imagine the message to one of being part of the solution.

I doubt that this art piece is intended to be an actual solution, rather it's a way to get people thinking about solutions.

[stevenleser]

9. Those spikes are pretty horrible. What if someone fell, had a heart attack/fainted, etc. onto them

It would seem those could cause life threatening injuries.