Trespassing

When the hefty tome Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art dropped through the Design Week letterbox, it was almost impossible to prize ourselves away from leafing through it long enough to actually blog about it.

Published by Taschen, designed by Josh Baker and co-authored by Marc and Sara Schiller of the street art site Wooster Collective, its stunning 300 or so pages examine street art in its many different forms – the only stipulation being that it hadn’t been commissioned.

There’s no doubt that the book raises a lot of questions, and certainly increases your awareness of the artforms that adorn the environment.  Most Londoners have probably noticed the white bikes littering the streets over the last few years – the legacy of Kevin Caplicki’s New York Ghost Bike Project, marking cycling fatalities.  This is just one example of how street art can turn the deeply personal into something decidedly public.

Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art by Carlo McCormick and Marc and Sara Schiller is published in hardback by Taschen, September 2010, priced £27.99.