The concept of urban flux - Essay Example

Flux came into existence in 1950s with the neo-dada movement that used sound, sight, spectacles and event to explore artistic experience available in those days. This marked the beginning of change in art and urban environment, with more designers engaging into art as a score for performance. In addition, new technological innovations and the unstable urban environment have led to development of new trends flux display. For example, it is now possible to establish pixilated displays on the entire facade of buildings in urban areas.

Transit vehicles as well can be used as mobile billboard as they move around the city (Hack, 2011). There are a number of ways in which urban flux has contributed into the current urban experience. The first one is that fluxes act as tourist’s attraction. For instances, by 1970s, Times Square was one of the places avoided by New Yorkers and tourist since it had become the hideout for criminal and sex workers (Hack, 2011). Despite the many attempts to clear the unfortunate reputation the situation did not change, not until, designers came up with a plan they referred to as forty-second street now.

The plan projected that the ground floor of all the buildings along Times Square streets to be covered with signage. In addition, new zoning rules were created which made it a requirement for every building plan to include signage and all tall building to have a 50 sq ft or more of super signage. Currently, New York Times Square is the most attractive and frequently visited areas in New York. The second one is that flux promotes communication and dissemination of information to a large number of people.

This is possible because most of the urban flux displays are along the pedestrian pathways. For example, the Berlin wall paintings and Democracy wall in Beijing. The third advantage of urban flux is that it helps to create an attachment between the residents of a place and its environment. For instance, public art can symbolize a lost history of a place or engaging the public in its creation (Hack, 2011). Lastly, flux can bring back to life neglected and transitional parts of a city. A program on mural Arts in Philadelphia has significantly assisted in transforming parts of the city that were once abandoned.

Urban flux, however, is associated with a number of ethical and legal issues. The first one is that, in most cases, temporary signage tends to persist even after building construction is completed. The second issue is an argument that advertisement fluxes on street benches and stands make the city untidy. The third one suggests that urban flux allow display of adverts that promotes unacceptable social practices such as beer drinking. The last one is that urban flux, especially the mural program does not clearly outline the rights entailed to an artist’s work ownership and maintenance terms.

The fifth one is that some murals may be offensive in a way. Moreover, there are difficulties encountered in regulating flux. For instance, the controversies on whether a fully pixilated facade is a sign or an element, a commercial billboard or art. The other difficult issue is determining the duration temporary elements should remain on the construction sites. In addition, it is also not clear if there are