Joshua Allen Harris

Joshua Allen Harris is a resident of New York City and has been relatively unknown until a recent buzz of internet activity due to a YouTube video posting of his work.  Harris is popular for his kinetic street sculptures that represent animals and sometimes monsters.  If one were walking by on the street, it would be easily possible, even likely, to walk by Harris’s art without even noticing it’s existence. 

Harris uses plastic shopping and garbage bags to construct his work.  He then attaches his pieces to subway grates that spew air as trains rush by underneath.  His sculptures trap air and inflate, revealing their identity as plastic animals, swaying with the air being pushed up inside them.  Videos of his work reveal people walking by on the streets of New York City not even noticing the apparent garbage on the ground.  It is so common to see trash on the streets that people do not even think twice about it.  The sculptures then begin to come to life as the air is propelled into them.  People stop, take pictures, and make comments about the artwork until, eventually, the train passes and the air supply ends.  The sculptures then quickly deflate and settle back to the ground, looking like trash once again. 

While Harris apparently uses unused plastic bags in his work, is speaks heavily of using trash in order to create art as well as awareness of the amount of waste people create and ignore on a daily basis. 

Harris’s first work is captured in the video above. The video of the bears shows them inflating and deflating several times as if they are coming to life and dying each time.  One cannot help but think of the plight of polar bears in relation to issues of global warming.  Other work by Harris is less serious and depicts mythical creatures, such as the Loch Ness monster, that span several subway grates. 

Harris is getting increased attention as his work gains internet fame.  The Environmental Defense Fund has used Harris’s polar bear sculptures in an advertisement aimed at stopping global warming.  Harris’s work can be a jumping off point for many potential classroom applications.  His rise to fame can even serve as a teaching point.  The impact of the work of one person can reach thousands and eventually millions of people.  Students can learn about the potential power of their own work.