BT ArtBox Kiosks In Trafalgar Square

M@
By M@ Last edited 142 months ago
BT ArtBox Kiosks In Trafalgar Square

Head on down to Traf Square between now and sundown and you'll find a parade of colourful telephone boxes standing proud. This is the BT ArtBox initiative which, for reasons of avoiding branding and for the sheer filth of it, we'll hereby refer to as B Tartbox.

B Tartbox takes 80 of the famous red icons and spruces them up with paint, plastic, sculpture, yarn and just about any other material you can apply to a kiosk. Artists include such notables as Sir Peter Blake, Zaha Hadid, Zandra Rhodes and, um, Timmy Mallett. Tomorrow, the boxes will be scattered around town and on show until 18 July, after which they'll be auctioned off for ChildLine.

The gallery below contains five of our favourite boxes from B Tartbox:

Big Ben B Tartbox. This 13 foot, malformed replica of Big Ben was constructed by New Zealand artist Mandii Pope. It has four working clock faces, apparently.
Big Ben B Tartbox. This 13 foot, malformed replica of Big Ben was constructed by New Zealand artist Mandii Pope. It has four working clock faces, apparently.
Flowerbox. Playful artists greyworld, who recently hung a glowing sun in Trafalgar Square, return with this floral booth. Turn the key and artificial flowers debouch.
Flowerbox. Playful artists greyworld, who recently hung a glowing sun in Trafalgar Square, return with this floral booth. Turn the key and artificial flowers debouch.
Phone Booth: An unimaginative name for an imaginative reworking of the old phone box into a sofa. The artist is Benjamin Shine.
Phone Booth: An unimaginative name for an imaginative reworking of the old phone box into a sofa. The artist is Benjamin Shine.
Stop The Pigeon: It's a red phone box with a giant pigeon named after an old children's cartoon. What more do you want? Designed by HoWoCo.
Stop The Pigeon: It's a red phone box with a giant pigeon named after an old children's cartoon. What more do you want? Designed by HoWoCo.
Royal Box: This one's been flattened out and turned into one of those dressing screens you see in period dramas. Designed by Che Frantz.
Royal Box: This one's been flattened out and turned into one of those dressing screens you see in period dramas. Designed by Che Frantz.
The boxes in Trafalgar Square. © BT ArtBox and Fiona Upton.
The boxes in Trafalgar Square. © BT ArtBox and Fiona Upton.

You can see all the designs on the B Tartbox website. And here's one we spotted years ago.

Last Updated 15 June 2012

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